


Two Worlds Will Collide

by 14KomikoChild14



Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Character Death, Other, POV Original Character, That feeling when your new to a site and got no idea what you’re doing, Thought of this story months ago and published it months ago, never posted anything outside of Wattpad so this is really new
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-05
Updated: 2020-01-23
Packaged: 2020-10-10 13:33:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 47
Words: 61,931
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20528843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/14KomikoChild14/pseuds/14KomikoChild14
Summary: Dossier opening.:Name: Felicity FioreAge: 15Gender: FemaleNationality: American/ItalianFamiliars: GrandmotherOccupation: StudentGroup: The RunawaysPowers: RepellingHobbies/Skills: Riding Roller-skates; Writing and Listening to MusicSelf-defence: CapableDanger: Keep watchAssessment: Keep watch--------------------------------------------Dossier opening.:Name: Maria Isabella Cravo da SilvaAge: 14Gender: FemaleNationality: PortugueseFamiliars: Mother and FatherOccupation: StudentGroup: UnknownPowers: UnknownHobbies/Skills: Computer Genius; Hacking and DrawingSelf-defence: Somewhat capableDanger: Keep watchAssessment: Keep watch--------------------------------------------Dossier opening.:Name: Claire MirandaAge: 15Gender: FemaleNationality: American/SpanishFamiliars: Mother, Father, Brother and SisterOccupation: StudentGroup: UnknownPowers: UnknownHobbies/Skills: Piano; Hand to Hand Combat and SkateboardingSelf-defence: Very CapableDanger: Keep watchAssessment: Keep watch





	1. Kidnapped

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story was first published on my Wattpad account, but I decided to move it here. Though, it will, of course, still be available on Wattpad.  
Side note: This story will be written in English but since there will be Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and Japanese characters, the languages will vary from character to character, at times, at least.  
I hope you enjoy.

  
_I felt myself going through some kind of weird boom tube. As I was being pulled through it, I noticed that a girl was passing by me. Her hair was a darker brown than mine_ _,_ _ and her eyes looked similar to my own 'Oh my god she's me!' Her back was facing the direction she was headed to, which ironically was the direction I came from. As we were passing by one another_ _,_ _ I couldn't help but stare. 'We look the same_ _. The_ _ only difference is that her hair is darker_ _._ _'_

_I was in such a daze of curiosity and shock that I almost missed her outstretched hand, neither of us said anything as I stretched my hand towards her. Once I successfully grabbed her hand_ _,_ _ I felt her slip something into mine. She let go almost immediately resulting in her getting further and further away before, eventually, disappearing from my line of sight._

** _ WAIT!! HOLD UP!! This is WAY, WAY to forward into the story! Let us start on the night everything turned upside down, shall we? _ **

** _ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ _ **

** _ Ring Ring! (oh, look! The most cliche thing to write!  _ ** 😆 ** _ ) _ **

"Yes?"

"Felicidade?"

"Maria? Look, I know that there's a time difference and all, but it's 3 in the morning over here!"

"Eu sei que horas são...( I know what time it is...)"

"Than why are you calling me at this time?!"

"Porque eu estou aqui...( because I'm here...)"

"Here? Here, where?"

"No aeroporto... saí agora do avião... Felicidade, I'm in America...(At the airport... I just got out of the plane...)" Her English accent wasn't the best, but the little that she knew how to say was understandable.

"I'm sorry did you say 'in America'?!"

"Sim. (Yes.)"

"Aren't you like two weeks early?"

"Vim mais cedo... (I got here earlier...)"

"Why?"

"Podemos falar disso depois? Tipo, cara a cara? (Can we talk about this later? Like face-to-face?)"

I let out a sigh. "Ok, I'm coming to pick you up."

"Não é preciso! Eu posso apanhar um táxi! (That isn't necessary! I'll just get a taxi!)

"Do you speak English?"

I heard her give a shaky breath before answering. "N-no."

"Do you have American money?"

"Não. (No.)

"Do you know where I live?"

I heard her let out another shaky breath before sighing in defeat. "Não... não sei... (No... no, I don't know...)"

"Yeah, I thought as much. Which airport are you at?"

"Uh... the único (only) that you- gah! O único de que me tinhas falado. (The only one that you told me about.)" I facepalmed. 'Must protect.'

"Ok, on my way."

"Ok."

I ended the call before slowly and forcefully getting out of bed... my sweet, sweet, warm bed.

I made my way to my dear clothes chair before grabbing my purple hoodie, putting on some random black combat pants. I placed my phone in my hoodie pocket before making my way toward my bedroom door. _'Wait, hold up... I'm forgetting something.' _I quickly turned around and looked around my room. _'What the heck am I forgetting?!' _Then the realisation hit me, I forgot my most prized possession. My beanie! My black beanie that was neatly resting on my dresser. I quickly grabbed it and put it on before going downstairs. I contemplated whether or not I should wake my grandma. I decided against it. Making sure not to wake her, I walked over to the front door and put on my black sneakers.

I cautiously got out of my house and went to the bus depot. As soon as I got there I bought my ticket and grabbed my phone and dialled. '_Come on__,__ pick up! Pick up!'_

"Hello?"

"Claire! Hey!"

"Felicity? ¿Que passa? It's 3 in the morning, is everything alright?"

"Yeah, everything's fine... there's just one thing..."

"What?"

"Maria's here..."

"¿Perdón?"

"Maria. Is. Here."

"Wasn't she supposed to be here in two weeks?"

"Yeah, but she had to make her flight... earlier."

"Dios Mío." There was a pause.   
"... Dónde estás?"

"At the bus stop, waiting for the bus that'll take me to the airport."

"So, you're not in the car with your Abuela. Not a question just a statement."

"Yeah, I figured as much and nope. I couldn't bring myself to wake her."

"Te entiendo. I'll go to the airport by car. Do you want me to pick you up?"

"No, I'm fine by bus. So I'll meet you guys there?"

"Yeah, we'll be waiting."

"Oh! And Claire?"

"¿Sí?"

"I didn't tell Maria that I was going to call you and make you go there."

"So, it's a surprise?"

"Yup."

"Eres exasperante."

"So... see you there?"

"See you there."

I heard the **_beep_** sound signalling that she had ended the call. I still couldn't believe that Maria was here. It made me happy that she was able to come to America sooner, but it also worried me... what could have happened to make her come two weeks early?

My mind was about to go into a whirlpool of questions and doubts but was cut off by the sudden appearance of a guy. Wow, a guy! Cliche, isn't it? He was about my age, with long black hair and brown eyes. _'By his face, he's probably of Native American descent.'_ He had a skateboard under his right arm. He had an orange headband wrapped around his head, what I could only guess was an orange jumper covered with a brown hooded shirt, black pants and red sneakers. _'So orange might be his favourite colour...'_ I snickered slightly, making him look at me, which made me divert my eyes to the street almost immediately. '_Please look away! Please look away!'_ He looked away. _'Why do you always have to look at people for too long?!' _

I began getting lost in thought but once again was cut off by the guy. I noticed that he was now talking to someone, so I tried not to eavesdrop.... though, I found it quite difficult since he wasn't exactly "_subtle_". I heard him let out a small huff before making his way over to the statue that stood next to the bus depot. I once again diverted my eyes back to the street. _'Stop watching everyone's every move! Just look at the street."_

I heard a "Hmph!" Followed by the sound of a skateboard hitting the ground and rolling away. I looked over just in time to see the guy being taken away by someone. _'What the?!' _I was about to rush over to try and help but was unable to do so as two arms wrapped around me, and something was placed over my mouth.

I tried screaming, but the thing over my mouth incapacitated me from doing so. I tried fighting against the person that had grabbed me, but their grip was too tight. So, I was unsuccessful. It didn't take long for a weird smell to hit my nostrils, a scent that only made me grow weaker. All I could do was watch as the darkness started to consume me and the world got bigger and then? Well, after that nothing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A new chapter will be published every Friday.  
I hope you enjoyed, and I hope youhave a good day.


	2. Escape

  
It has been about a month since I was abducted. Well, actually, since I and some other kids were abducted. We were being experimented on for a little over a week since we got to this place. This ship like thing. And do you know what the best part is? We were being experimented on by aliens... I think. The experiments were painful, to say the least. From what I've gathered, which isn't much, the experiments are to trigger something inside of us? Whatever the hell that means. Unfortunately, though, I've noticed that some kids whose tests don't give the desired results, just disappear... those aliens just take them away, and we don't see them again...

Those alien things have been trying really hard to get the results they want from us, and that frightens me because I don't even know what the experiments are going to do to me or to the others...

The sound of sirens going off awakened me. '_Funny, didn't know aliens had alarms... wait, isn't that the siren thingy that flies off the rails when something has been breached or something along those lines?!_' I looked around only to see a ginger-haired girl in front of the pod I was in, right before it opened and I fell out, almost face planting onto the ground in the process, if the girl hadn't caught me.

"Whoa there. You ok?" It took me a second to understand what had been asked and to whom.

"Yeah, yeah I'm good... just feeling a little woozy." She nodded. I noticed not long after that the other abductees, along with some new ones, where being let out of the pods by the same girl who had caught me and also a black-haired boy wearing shades. Why? Is beyond me.

"All of you follow Bumblebee! She'll lead you guys to the rest of the team" The boy said before he and the ginger girl ran out of the lab like place, and some of the alien guards started attacking.

"Go! We'll distract them!"

"Ok guys, let's go." Bumblebee immediately started flying past them as we all followed close behind. We got to the lobby? Not totally sure what to call it. The rest of the heroes were there waiting for us. We watched as a smaller alien ship made contact with the one we were in, and the heroes told us to run into the smaller ship.

I had just made it to the ship as I heard Black Beetle's voice and the sound of closings doors. Then the fight between the heroes, that were still on the other ship, and Black Beetle began.

The fight could be heard as could a lot of banging noise against the walls of the ship. _'I hope they're alright...' _I was shaken out of my train of thought, after what seemed like an eternity, by the ship doors opening. A boy with a blue hat fell onto his back before getting up and running towards us. Nightwing ran out of the smaller ship that we were in before coming back with a passed out Bumblebee in his hands.

The rest of the heroes began bringing their knocked-out teammates to the smaller ship. I took note of the blond-haired, blue masked, floating hero girl that went to attack Black Beetle- just as Blue Beetle had done a few seconds earlier, before being thrown to the side like a rag doll. Blue Beetle not the girl- she lifted her hands up and waved them around, and Black Beetle was slowly lifted off the ground. She had begun waving her hands around slowly before gradually becoming faster. It was actually quite comical. Black Beetle was being shaken roughly like a sad pillow. I think the girl was trying to buy her teammates some extra time.

But, unfortunately, she was knocked into a wall and rendered unconscious. Black Beetle, of course, was about to take advantage of this fact and try to grab her. It was immediate: my legs began to move on their own. Running past a confused Nightwing who started screaming at me to stop, I ran towards Black Beetle and the girl. I quickly looked at the ground and searched for something that could help. Anything. I found what seems like a piece of the alien computer thing, that was now broken. I grabbed it and chucked it towards his head, and that's when the world started to move in slow motion. He turned towards me.

_'Oh, shit! Oh, shitty shit, shit!' _He started to move towards me with an evil grin on his face. _'Oh, freaking bloody hell!!!! Run__,__ you dumbass__,__ run!' _But I couldn't. I was completely frozen in fear. He got closer and closer until finally, he was in front of me. About to grab me. I didn't know what to do. I couldn't run. I couldn't move... and yet, somehow, I felt my hands lift up and stretch out in front of me as a mysterious force wrapped itself around my lower arms and my hands. I seemed to repelled Black Beetle and myself, him against a wall on the other side of the room and myself against the wall next to Shimmer.

_'Ouch, my head.' _I slowly started to get back onto my feet alongside Shimmer. A green boy had managed to grab the blond girl and take her to their ship, and Blue Beetle was now being held down by Black Beetle. I looked to the side only to be met with the sight of Shimmer's hand dissolving the wall that she was using to support herself while getting up. "Your hand!" I tried warning, but by then it was already too late. Water rushed into the room and slammed into both me and Shimmer, knocking us both back. Shimmer was knocked unconscious while I was just knocked onto the floor as the water came in faster and faster.

I successfully fought against the force of the water that was crashing down on me and got up. I looked around, trying to find something to block the giant hole in the wall of the ship. _'There's nothing to stop the water from coming in...' _I saw, after giving up my search, that the heroes had made their retreat. Not long after, I felt something being slammed against me as I was pushed into the ocean.

I looked behind me noticing, almost immediately the knocked out Blue Beetle. _'Crap! I'm losing air! I gotta get out of the water.' _I took off swimming in Blue Beetle's direction. I had almost gotten to him but stopped when I felt a stinging sensation on my leg. Out of the sudden surge of pain that ran threw my leg, I had opened my mouth, letting the salty water into my system. _'Losing_ _air.... quickly...' _My hands shot up to my throat as if that would help me to close my damned mouth. I began coughing while struggling to keep my eyes open and make my way over to Blue Beetle. I was losing consciousness and fast.

Once again, I felt something slam into me as an arm wrapped around my waist. The same thing happened to Blue Beetle as we were both retrieved into the heroes' ship. Once inside, I began coughing up water as the person who had landed on top of me quickly got off and tried to help me.

"Hey, just breath." The voice sounded female. My vision cleared slightly, and I saw the blond-haired girl from before. "You ok?" I gave a small nod trying to reassure her that I was okay. She seemed reassured, that is until I passed out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A new chapter will be published every Friday.  
hope you enjoyed and have a good day.


	3. Black Canary

_'Ugh, my head hurts.' I opened my eyes slowly only to see that I was... floating?! 'What the heck?!' I looked around and saw a ball of light hurtling towards me and quickly. 'Holy mother of-' My hands subconsciously shot up in front of me and the weird sensation re-appeared on my lower arms and hands. It wrapped itself around my arms before disappearing. I noticed after a few seconds that the ball of light had been repelled_ _, though,_ _ it didn't stay that way for long._

_The ball of light quickly stopped and turned back around. It was coming towards me with even more speed than before. 'What do I do? What do I do?' I wasn't in control of my powers, so I had absolutely and utterly no idea how to activate them again! I don't know what to do. I was overwhelmed with the feeling of fear once more. It was getting closer and closer before... disappearing... and being replaced with... confetti?! The hell?!_

_I heard laughter from behind me, and so I shot back to try and see who it was. But just as I was turning around and caught a glimpse of what I assumed to be a cane. I was blinded_ _ by_ _ a bright white light that slowly dissolved into a full-on rainbow._

__________________________________________________________________

I woke up a few hours later with a stinging sensation in my left leg just above my ankle. _'Well, great to know that, THAT wasn't a dream...' _I winced slightly as I moved my hand to massage where it hurt. Yeah, I don't like the feeling. So, no massaging. I looked around and saw that I was in a white room, which immediately made me think that I was in the hospital. 

A man with blond hair wearing a lab coat walked into the room not long after I woke up. He told me that some type of alien laser had hit me. What are the odds? A laser, hah! Now that's one for the storybooks. He quickly told me that I was in Star Labs and that I might have a hard time walking. So, for me not to put too much pressure on my left leg. Lovely.

A day after our rescuing, I found out that the other four abductees that had been in the alien ship since I got there, where here in Star Labs. We were taken to speak with Black Canary. Us, abductees and some heroes who had, apparently, also been abducted, were being called in. One by one to talk to her. A boy with dark skin whose name I had learned to be, Virgil Hawkins, has just been called in to speak to her. Though I wasn't paying as much attention as I should have, I was far too distracted, still thinking of the dream I had a day ago. _'That was way too weird.' _I had wanted to think of the dream as soon as I woke up, but found that I was too tired to actually care. Plus, the pain in my leg didn't exactly help. I continued to wonder about the dream for a few more minutes which made me completely miss the hilarious fiasco that happened in front of me.

Well, I didn't actually miss it. I just didn't pay much attention. After, a while I heard my name. "Felicity Fiore." I looked up and saw Black Canary waiting for me at the door. I quickly got up and limped into the room with her. Wincing every now and again I slowly sat down.

"Felicity, I hope you don't mind, but I'd like to ask you a few questions about your abduction." I don't answer. All I do is look around. "Look I know you and the others have been through a lot, but please do cooperate." I looked at her, and after a few seconds, I nodded.

"What do you want to know?"

"Do you know what that they wanted?" I closed my eyes, letting the memories of everything come back before reopening them and looking at Black Canary once more.

"They kept... on experimenting on us. They tried to trigger something inside of us, I think. They put us through a lot of tests, but some of the other kids' tests didn't seem to give them the results they wanted."

"What happened to them?"

"I don't even know... they would just... just disappear... those _things_ would take them, and then they wouldn't come back... I'm not totally sure what it is they seemed to want to activate inside me and the others, but I do know that I **never** want to go through that again..."

"Could you just tell me what it is they did exactly?"

By this point in the conversation, I was looking down while fiddling with my hoodie's strings. "I can tell you what they did with me... not sure about the others though." Looking up, I saw her nod her head as if saying _go on_. "It kinda started out small, they would give me small zaps, but after a while, they did something in my head... not exactly sure what but it felt as if my brain was being repelled from my body. As if my consciousness was being kicked out or something."

"Repelled? Like what you did to Black Beetle?." My face contorted into shock.

"Oh, So that did happen..." I looked at my hands that were now made into fists on my lap.

"Yes." There was a moment of silence before she spoke again. " Do you have any questions? Any at all?"

"Why's there a camera?"

"So that I can remember exactly what you've said." She said with a small smile before going serious again.

"Smart." I thought for a second before asking "What's gonna happen to us?" She looked confused for a moment before regaining her composure and answering.

"The rest of the league and I will have to... talk. Thank you for your cooperation." I nodded and left. _'Not sure how to feel with that answer... I hope grandma's alright. And Maria and Claire...'_

After closing the door, I stayed still for a minute and tried to make my breathing look normal, just **not** to make it visible that all my emotions and thoughts were **all over** the place.

I started to move towards the chairs slowly but was stopped by a hand, grabbing my wrist. I immediately pulled away from the person's grip and balled up my hands into fists before holding them close to my chest. I closed my eyes tightly. _'Don't repel!'_

"Sorry! Didn't mean to scare you." I reopened my eyes and looked over to see that the green boy from the ship was the one who had spoken and grabbed my wrist a few seconds ago.

"No, no it-it's fine." I stuttered out. "I... I'm just a little jumpy." After a few awkward seconds of silence, I noticed that he was staring at me, which kind of made me feel self-conscious. "Uh..." He seemed to snap out of his daze almost instantly at the sound of my voice before... hugging me?

"Felicity!"

"Huh... wh-what?" He stopped hugging me and took a step back before turning completely human... well except for the greens skin and green hair. _'Wait a second__... __I know this freckled kid... no, it can't be...' _"Gar?!"

"The one and only." He gave me that dorky smile, the same smile he did when I was leaving six years ago. The last time I saw him. "I missed you, ya know?"

My eyes softened, and a small smile made its way into my face. "Noted."

After mine and Garfield's reunion, he was called in to speak with Black Canary. I once again resumed my journey towards the chairs and sat down. I noticed the others staring at me. _'Why are they staring?...' _Then it hit me. _'They saw everything that just happened... didn't they...' _I looked at the ground and started to fiddle with the end of my braid. _'Please look away. Please look away.' _

Even though I hadn't been paying much attention to the people around me I did, in fact, take notice that I had sat down next to Tye Longshadow, the guy from the night I was abducted. _'At least I paid enough attention so that I could tell which name belonged to which face.' _I gave him a sideways glance hoping that he wouldn't notice. _'His eyes... they were brown... they're blue now... did the experiments change his eye colour?' _He looked at me. _'GAH! Why does this guy always look when I'm staring at him?! Oh, yeah... ok.' _I diverted my eyes to the ceiling. _'No Felicity you're totally not SUPER obvious.'_

"You're the girl from the night I was abducted." My head shot down to his face, and my eyes widen slightly before blinking a few times. "Felicity, right?"

"Y-Yeah... that's me." He gave a curt nod and diverted his gaze to the wall in front of us. He put his back against the back of the chair and leaned against the wall while closing his eyes. "Your name's Tye... right?" He opened his eyes and gave me a sideways glance before nodding. I could have sworn I saw a ghost of a smile on his lips before he closed his eyes once more.

A smile made its way onto my face as I copied him. I leaned on the back of the chair that was against the wall before closing my eyes. I put my hands into my hoodie pocket and took a small nap. And by a nap, I mean letting everything that had happened this last month sink in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A new chapter will be published every Friday.  
Hope you enjoyed and have a good day.


	4. Learning New Things

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter may or may not be a cringe factor. Anyway, hope you enjoy!

  
"They're runaways. Their families are probably looking for them!"

"Yes, but their Meta-Gene has been activated. It would be dangerous to send them back to their families. Especially without having their powers under control."

"Then what do you suggest we do? Keep them away from their families?! And not let them know that they are safe?!"

"Yes."

"You are incredible, absolutely incredible" The sentence dripped with sarcasm and disbelief. "So what do you suggest we do with them? Send them to the moon?"

"No. First, we find out what their powers are."

"..."

"Second train their powers."

"Where are they going to be staying?"

"Star Labs."

"..."

"If you're wondering. Star offered as well."

"..."

"Now that, that's been cleared up, this conversation is over." The screeching of the chair was heard throughout the room as someone got up.

"They're scientists. They're going to try and research their powers."

"Obviously."

"How will they train them?"

"..."

"They're teenagers... they're not going to like this. They have wild spirits. They won't want to be cooped up in a lab and treated like guinea pigs."

"I'm aware."

"And when are we telling them?"

"In a few days."

A sigh of defeat was heard. "Fine. But don't say I didn't warn you. This won't end well."

"Understood."  
____________________________________________________________________

After our talk with Black Canary, Garfield had tried to spend some more time with me. But, unfortunately, he wasn't able to since we all still had to be checked to make sure we were alright and to see what the experiments might have done to us. Even though I had been already checked because of my... oh, I don't know... leg. You know, logic. Guess they didn't think of checking to see what the aliens did to me. Yeah, smart.

After having been examined- God, I hate that word- we were taken to a small white room that consisted of 2 sofas; two giant plant pots on, one of the corners of the wall; one small plant near a window and a coffee table with some magazines, you know, your typical "_waiting area_". Anyway, it's been two days since then, and we're still waiting to know what will happen to us.

During this small time period, we found out what Meta-Gene is. Black Canary gave us a short briefing while we were in the waiting room. We found out that the five of us have Meta-Gene that has been activated. So to put it simply, this "_Meta-Gene_" is something that can give us Meta-Human abilities or in other words turn us into "_Superman". _Please notice the sarcasm. Anyway, it can provide us with powers or just literally change our DNA completely. Doesn't that sound lovely? To know that, **that** has been activated inside of you? Yeah, not really. Though, I haven't noticed any changes... except that I can repel stuff now. But who knows I might still grow a third ear. Oh, I sincerely hope not.

But **anyway**, at the moment I'm sitting next to Asami Koizumi, a Japanese girl with black hair put up into a ponytail and eyes of different colours. Her right eye is green while her left eye is brown. I think it's called heterochromia iridium. It's a condition that makes each eye a different colour. She's about one year younger than me and seems nice... I think. I mean, I can't really understand her since she doesn't really speak English, only Japanese. Though, she does seem to comprehend me, kind of. As much as you can when you don't speak the same language, of course. Though, we do have a good understanding... probably?

We were, once again, in the waiting room, sitting in silence. I was reading one of the magazines that had been resting on the coffee table while the others either looked around or slept, aka, Tye and Ed.

We were waiting for some news as to what will happen to us. I was concentrated on the "_lovely_" gossip magazine about the weekly scientists or whatever this thing was. I mean I **was ****focused** until I felt something poke my side. I looked at Asami and saw her pointing to the door. It took me a few minutes to understand what she meant until I heard it. There was some type commotion going on outside... some kind of argument. It was hard to comprehend what was happening since whatever words were being spoken were very rushed.

The commotion ceased, and the door of the waiting room slowly opened as a man walked in. _'Funny, he kinda looks like an older, more sciency version of Ed.' _I was about to dismiss the thought quickly but was cut off by Ed suddenly getting to his feet and speaking. "Father?" _'When the heck did this kid wake up?!' _Silence fell between all of us. I mean there already was silence before, but this one was uncomfortable. I turned my head slowly towards Ed only to be met with a perplexed and grim expression. I noticed that his hands had balled into first and where shaking slightly. Maybe out of disbelief? I mean, his father was right in front of us, after all.

"Hello, Eduardo."

I looked between the two as neither of them made any move. _'This can not be a bad sign...'_

"Mi Hijo, I-" Ed's Father was interrupted by another man coming in and asking him to go with him to speak with the Leaguers. He was reluctant but went nonetheless, but not before sparing Ed one last glance.

I watched as Ed fell back onto the couch with his head down and a scowl on his face. I wanted to ask if he was alright but thought it might be better just to leave him be for a while. The room fell back into silence... an even more uncomfortable silence. _'Well, this is somewhat unsettling...' _A few minutes passed and still, no one said a word.

_'We can cut the tension with a knife...' _I shook my head and looked back at Ed. _'I hope he's ok.' _I slowly put my back against the couch and closed my eyes and fell into a somewhat comfortable and short slumber.

When I reopened my eyes, I took notice that Ed still had his head down and no one was saying a word. I turned my head toward the window and saw that it was already night-time. It was time to go to bed. Since we still didn't know what was going to happen to us. Star allowed us to stay here for the time being._ 'He's still with his head down... it's been about three hours already...'_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A new chapter will be published on Friday.  
Hope you enjoyed and have a good day.


	5. New Powers

[I heard this while writing this chapter, so if you want, you can listen to it while reading.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jg4BQN64FQE)

  
Two days later and here we are, once again, in the same white and grey waiting room. I sat on the window seal with the window open and my injured leg dangling off the side. 

Two days later, and we still didn't know what would happen to us. We also didn't know what exactly happened between Ed and his father. We were all curious, but none of us made any move to ask. It was obviously a dodgy subject, and Ed didn't really seem like he was in the mood for a friendly chat about... himself... at least, not just yet.

I closed my eyes, enjoying the soft breeze before slowly dozing off.

___________________________________________________________________

_I slowly opened my eyes only to find myself floating. 'Oh, great. This again.' I looked around and noticed that I was in the middle of the sky. 'The hell?'_

_I heard laughter behind me and whipped around. I saw no one. I heard it again but above me. I looked up. Nothing. 'I don't like this! I don't like this one bit!!' This time I heard a giggle_ _ behind_ _ me. 'Oh, I don't want to! I don't want to look! This is how we die in horror films!' I let out a shaky breath before turning around. Nothing. Not a living soul. Nada. 'Oh, fiddlesticks! My brain hates me.' _

_I started looking around while hoping that there wouldn't be someone or something just casually in front of me. Luckily there was nothing... is what I _ ** _would _ ** _have said if it wasn't for the giant, flaming ball of burning sunshine headed in my direction, faster than the damned speed of light. And, of course... like any sensible person... I panicked. And then it clicked. 'This has happened before!' _

_But even with that reali_ _sation_ _ I still had no idea what to do. I was utterly defenseless! I didn't know how to activate my powers to make them work! They do that on their own! But nevertheless, I tried. And failed. I lifted both my arms up and held them in front of me. I closed my eyes and tried to concentrate. I felt the _ _mysterious_ _ force thing wrap around me again but didn't feel it leave... all I felt was the world_ _-shaking_ _, like crazy. I opened my eyes only to be met with the horrific sight of everything around me_ _,_ _ shaking violently. _

_I started to freak... again. I looked around like crazy, completely forgetting about the flaming ball of doom headed my way. 'What's going on?! What's happening?!'_

_"Relax!" There was a voice_ _... an_ _ elderly voice... of a man. 'Relax? H-how?' _

_I tried focusing on calming down_ _,_ _ but that only made the world shake harder. 'Relax! Relax!' It wasn't working_ _. If_ _ anything, it just made it worse. Why was this happening? What happened? What caused this? My mind was racing. I could feel myself growing dizzy. _

_"Felicity. You must try to calm down. There is no threat coming your way." The same voice said. It told me to calm down once more. "Look in front of you." I did as told. In front of me was a long string of confetti falling slowly and delicately. Though, it didn't seem to help. The world around me started to fall apart. I didn't understand. Were my powers the cause of this? Is this what happens when I try to use them_ _ when_ _ they don't want to be used?_

_In my state of confusion, _ _a bright white light suddenly blinded me_ _. It slowly started to change from white to grey, and from grey to black before turning blue._

______________________________________________________________________

My eyes shot open once again as I fell from the window seal onto the floor. I let out a small grunt of pain since my leg hit the window seal harshly before hitting the ground. My body felt like something was radiating off of it. It felt like some type of pressure was surrounding it.

I noticed that I was sweating and my breathing wasn't steady. I also noticed that my hands were shaking as I used them to support myself. "Hey, are you-" Whoever was speaking suddenly stopped, and I heard something hitting the wall and shattering on the other side of the room.

"Hey, chica! It's ok! Just relax." Relax! I needed to relax! _'Felicity! Relax! Chill! Calm down!' _But it wasn't working... it only made me shake harder.

I heard someone approaching me. I felt the weird force/pressure thing shift outwards before hearing a slam and a grunt. I looked up and saw Virgil laying on the floor next to the wall and Asami going over to check to see if he was alright. _'There's a dent... oh, god, I did that!' _I began to panic. I also noticed the vase that was supposed to have been next to the window was now next to the door, in pieces.

"Felicity!" I turned my head to Tye, who held his hands in front of him, taking cautious steps forward. He was trying to approach me! I forced my body against the corner of the wall in between two giant flower pots.

"Don't!" He stopped. "I-I don't want to hurt anyone." I could feel the tears forming in the corner of my eyes. "Please..." I closed my eyes and put my face in my hands. Unbeknown to me, Tye had resumed his slow pace in my direction. Unfortunately, my powers noticed and repelled him into the wall next to Virgil. I gave out a squeak of fright when I heard the noise.

I knew I had done it again. The moment the force surrounding me shifted, I knew it had knocked someone back, but I couldn't look up. I was far too scared. So, I just quietly sobbed into my hands. _'Please don't hurt anyone.'_ I silently begged to my power, even though I was well aware that it wouldn't help.

After about two minutes, I heard footsteps heading towards me. I felt one of the vases shift next to me before it's presence completely disappeared and yet another crashing sound was heard followed by a few gasps. And that's when I felt it. A presence suddenly appeared next to me as two hands were placed on my shoulders. My head shot up from my hands, and I looked to see whose hands were on my shoulders. I stood there bewildered staring at Ed, who looked just as confused as me.

"H-How?" I could feel the weird pressure that was surrounding me slowly dissipate before completely vanishing.

"I-I don't know..." And then... he collapsed. On instinct, my arms shot forward, and I caught him before he could hit the ground.

"Ed!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A new chapter will be published every Friday.  
Hope you enjoyed and have a good day.


	6. Surprise, Surprise!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I hope you're enjoying the story so far!  
Today I'm gonna publish until chapter 8... probably should have said that on chapter one.... oh, well what's done is done.

One hour later, we all stood in a small... infirmary room? I think. After my sudden power outburst, some heroes and scientists went to check up on us, since they heard the commotion.

When they walked into the room, they found: an unconscious Ed, that I held in my arms; a surprised me; a confused Virgil who was struggling to get up; an expressionless Tye who was getting up with Asami's help; and a very confused Asami who, after helping Tye, went to help Virgil.

The room itself wasn't in a much better state- It was a complete mess- there were broken vases all over the floor, scattered plants that are probably now dead, and dents on the walls.

Virgil explained to the grown-ups what had happened- after having been able to regain his senses and control over his body- and they took us to the infirmary room. There they checked all of us to see if we were alright. They said that we were okay and that no one had gotten severely hurt... though, I did still feel guilty.

They told us that Ed wouldn't wake up for a few more hours. Saying that his heart was beating way to quickly and the sudden shock that his body got, was the reason as to why he passed out. His body wasn't used to, pretty much being disintegrated and re-located somewhere else. We were all worried even if some of us didn't show it _(AN: *cough*Tye*cough* Huh? Did someone say something?). _But, his father was the one that was most worried. He stayed with Ed until the next day.

Anyway, we left the infirmary after a while and went into some sort of meeting room, where another kid waited for us. There, we got the explanation as to why the heroes were here in the first place. Turns out, they had just finished talking to the Star Lab scientists to decide what to do with us. And guess what... they've already decided... bet you can't imagine what their decision was... yeah, they decided to keep us here. In. Star. Labs. Especially after my power outburst, the fact that Ed's powers had already appeared, and the fact that they wanted to... study our powers. In other words, we are now their science guinea pigs.

Us, being us, of course, we weren't exactly... happy. None of us wanted to stay here. This place was dank and gloomy. It's a giant lab building! For God's sake! There's nothing homey about this place! And as you can probably imagine we didn't react well... at all. I mean: Tye had a bad mood outburst; Virgil tried to "_reason_" with the Leaguers and the scientists, by joining Tye on his outburst; Asami hadn't understood what was happening since **no one** had the bright idea of actually speaking a language the girl could understand correctly, so she was very confused; I was too shocked and worried to even speak- worried because of Ed and shocked because I wasn't being allowed to go home- and the other kid? Well, he was actually fine with this arrangement, which surprised me quite a bit, but, then again, I didn't know the kid.

When Tye and Virgil were having their outburst, one of the scientists finally decided to tell Asami what was happening. Honestly, her reaction surprised me more than the other kid... She just looked at the scientist with one of the blankest expressions I have ever seen and just said "Wakarimashita." I've heard Maria say this a lot and I think it means: _I_ _understood_. Or something along those lines. Maria watches a lot of anime, so she sometimes says stuff in Japanese as a way to answer people. She could be insulting me, and I wouldn't even know.

Anyway, we were "_released_" from the meeting about... 1 hour later. You know, after, not having been able to change the grown-ups' minds.

They sent us to a different waiting room that looked almost identical to the other one that I had destroyed. The only difference was that everything was on the opposite side. Which kind of made it look like a mirror.

Ed woke up the next day and was greeted with his father's worried face. They didn't really have a heart-to-heart conversation since his father decided to tell him that we would all be staying in Star Labs so that the scientists could study our powers and our Meta-Gene. Ed... didn't... react very well. He was supposed to stay lying down for a while longer but as soon as his father told him the "_good news_", he got out of the bed in a rush, quickly walked to the door while screaming at his father, and once he was out, slammed it shut.

One of the guards saw Ed and tried to get him back into the room he had previously been in so that he would rest. He refused. As a backup plan, he brought Ed to the new waiting room. No one said anything when he entered. The door closed behind him, and he made his way over to the couch before sitting down next to Virgil. And as soon as he sat down, he fell asleep.

A few days later, and our "_training_" had already begun. Safe to say that no one really enjoyed it. Ed and I were the only ones who actually had our powers discovered, but we couldn't use them. Or, at least, not very well. Every time Ed succeeded in teleporting himself, even when it was only two feet away from where he previously stood, he would fall to the ground holding his side. The pain would be too much for him to handle, and he wound up, passing out quite a few times.

Then there was me. I couldn't repel anything, no matter what. I tried and tried but... nothing worked. I would end up losing my patience and kicking whatever was in front of me- with my right leg, not the left- I was just about to believe that my powers had disappeared until one of the times we were "_training_" Virgil accidentally discovered his powers and threw a metal can in my direction. My hands instinctively shot up to my face and felt that force wrap around my hands before shooting forward. We heard the can hit the ground on the other side of the giant room. So, to put it simply, my powers haven't disappeared, and I can repel things if my powers think I'm in danger... that's _totally_ not going to be used against me...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A new chapter will be published every Friday.  
have a good day and I hope you enjoyed.


	7. Decisions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, Young Justice: Outsiders is done...  
I'm actually quite satisfied with the ending... well, kinda.  
This was a special occasion for me (don't ask why... I just get WAY too emotional) so I felt like publishing a new chapter today...  
And in case anyone is wondering... no, no there won't be any spoilers for season 3 in this book.  
It IS a book that takes place in season 2, after all.  
Enjoy!

Time skip to a month later, and here we are... still here. My left leg felt far better, but there were still some movements that hurt. Black Canary usually visits a lot. We stay talking for a few hours. She's the only grown-up, other than Dr. Strange that I genuinely trust here.

During this one month process, all of our powers were discovered: Tye had some kind of Astro Form; Virgil had freaking electricity running and circulating throughout his body and could magnetize objects, I think it's called Electromagnetism; Asami had Chi Manipulation; Ed was capable of teleportation, and I could repel stuff, though I was still somewhat reluctant to use my powers.

There was another teen here with us. His name is Nathaniel, his powers were... gone, for the time being. He had been abducted by the Reach, after having run away. They experimented on him, and thanks to that, activated his Meta-Gene. The Reach took control of him and set him loose in Central City so that he could, well, wreak havoc and apparently... destroy the Flash or, something like that.

Over this past month, we had all become somewhat close. And we all got along quite well.

I, of course, spent most of my time with Sam since she's the only other girl here. Yeah, it's hard communicating when you speak two completely different languages, but I've always done that with Maria. So, it'd be fine. Even with the language barrier, Sam and I got along pretty well, developing a mutual understanding during this time. We always knew what the other needed, even if neither of us said anything.

The other person that I get along with the most is Tye. Even if he doesn't say much because of his tough exterior and his badass attitude, he was the first person I had actually talked to since I got here. So, he was the first one that I felt comfortable around. Asami would often give me looks when I'm around him. As if to tease me. And I do the same when she's around him.

I also get along with Nate. He's a sweet guy. He can be sassy at times, and I LoVe It! Every time he acts with sass, I laugh like crazy- even if I'm pissed- every time I lose it, he's the one who comes talk to me. I normally snap at everyone, but I can't do that to him. He's way too sweet, and I'd much rather not hurt his feelings when he's just trying to help.

Virgil was easy to start a friendship with and to confide in. He's the only person, other than Black Canary, that knows that I'm not a runway. He usually stands up for us even when he doesn't need to. He's a nice guy, and he has a lot of will power. Not totally sure what else to say about him except that he'd make a great leader.

And then there's Ed. We don't really talk much, but we have nothing against each other. He's a good kid. His only flaw is his temper. I mean, I don't have the best temper, but I take longer to blow than him. But, honestly, other than that, I feel like he'd be a cool person to hang with, but things have been somewhat awkward between us for a while... because of an... accident, a few weeks ago. Let's just say that being late, when the person with teleportation powers is training... close to the door... might end in an awkward situation...

Anyway, at the moment, we were training. No, sorry, Virgil was training. Training for the last five hours non stop with freaking wires connected to him. _'If he wanted to, he could probably make the machine short circuit.'_ It was obvious that the guy was getting pissed. _'The dude's a ticking time bomb! He's gonna blow a fuse! (AN: pun not intended.)' _He was trying, for like the 200th time to lift up a trash can with his magnetism/electricity_ (AN: I almost wrote: with his imagination powers...) _powers. But, of course, it wasn't that easy. At least, not as easy as the stupid scientists had hoped it would be

"Not just the lid. The entire can." The scientist who had spoken was none other than Dr David Wilcox. He was, to put it nicely, one of the most annoying people on this planet. I looked at Virgil and saw his face scrunch up in anger and frustration. _'Yup. He officially lost it.' _

I watched as Virgil threw the lid against a wall, where it stayed stuck. He ripped the wires off of himself and turned around to face the All-Mighty Scientist who was, of course, safely behind a re-enforced glass window. "Doc, we've been at this for five hours straight! How about a lunch break?!" Wilcox looked at his watch before giving a sigh of defeat.

"Take 20 minutes."

We all walked out of our "_training_ _room_," and down the hall, as we made our way to the cafeteria area, we started to hear shouting. "You heard me! I'm sick and tired of the testing! We all are!"

_'They're at it again... it's like the 3rd time this week...' _Almost instantly Tye seemed to voice my thoughts. "They're at it again."

"Mi hijo, we must continue." Our plan wasn't to stay and listen, but we did it anyway. We already knew where this was going.

"Why?! Just to prove your theory?!"

"Sí, Eduardo! I've spent two decades working on my Zeta-Beam technology, and now my son has teleportation powers?! This cannot be a coincidence!" I rolled my eyes. _'Yes, yes, it can actually.' _Eds' Father let out a sigh before continuing. "The Meta-Gene the Reach activated inside you must be opportunistic. Taking advantage of whatever is present in the subjects' system."

"Only the subject doesn't care! I want a cure, not an explanation!"

"You have only yourself to blame. This never would have happened if you hadn't run away from your Abuelo's home in Argentina."

"I thought I wanted to be with my father... what a mistake that turned out to be." I cringed. _'That was harsh... but then again I can't really judge since I don't know the full story. Plus, I've never had a dad, so I don't know the feeling...'_

Ed walked out of the room and slammed the door shut. When he turned around, he seemed surprised to see us. _'And we've been caught.'_

There was a small awkward silence as Ed put his hands in his pockets and tried to get smaller. Though, it didn't last long as it was somewhat broken by Nate. "Oh... hey, Ed. Just passing through. We didn't hear anything, I swear." _'Smooth Nate, real smooth.'_

"Doesn't matter. Same old, same old."

Virgil put a hand on Ed's shoulder and immediately changed the subject. "Come on. We only have like 12 minutes for lunch. You know how Doc Wilcox gets when we're late." We all followed Virgil after he was done speaking.

"This is so messed up! Star is as bad as the Reach and worse than home." I heard Tye say behind me. But, of course, before I could answer, Nate did it for me.

"Tye, there's no way this is as bad as the Reach," Nate said as he put his hand on his waist. _'Oh, and here's the definition of sassiness, right here__,__ ladies and gentlemen. ' _I smirked slightly and snickered.

"Whatever Neut. I just now I can't take much more of this place."

I looked back for a small second before looking forward again and said. "None of us can." We all came to a stop as the hallway split into two separate ways.

Virgil placed his hand on mine and Tye's shoulders. "You won't have to. Cause we're busting out tonight." I looked at Virgil and smirked. _'I knew I liked this guy.' _The conversation ended there, and we made our way to the cafeteria. We ate and hurriedly went back to the hellhole we call a training room or testing laboratory, whichever sounds best... or more realistic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A new chapter will be published on Friday.  
Hope you enjoyed and that you have a good day.


	8. Trailer to my book.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song that will be in this chapter/trailer is called: Sober Up by AJR.  
They have really cool songs and this one gave me the idea for a trailer.  
enjoy!!

[This song is honestly beautiful, so I tried to make the trailer match with it](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3orqPl83Dk).

_Felicity Fiore. That’s my name. I’m a fifteen year old girl._

_I’m half American and Italian. American from my mother’s side and Italian from my father’s side._

_I’ve lived with my nonna in America ever since I can remember. If you’re wondering nonna means grandmother in Italian. My nonna taught me Italian when I was a child, but I prefer to speak English._

_______________________________________________________________________________________

"Maria? Look, I know that there's a time difference and all, but it's 3 in the morning over here!"

"Eu sei que horas são... (I know what time it is...)"

"Than why are you calling me at this time?!"

"Porque eu estou aqui... (Because I'm here...)"

"Here? Here, where?"

_________________________________________________________________________________________

“They kept... on experimenting on us. They tried to trigger something inside of us, I think. They put us through a lot of tests, but some of the other kids' tests didn't seem to give them the results they wanted."

"What happened to them?"

"I don't even know, they would just... just disappear... those _things _would take them, and then they wouldn't come back... I'm not totally sure what it is they seemed to want to activate inside me and the others but I do know that I **never** want to go through that again..."

"Could you tell me what they did exactly?"

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Ed walked out of the room and slammed the door shut. When he turned around he seemed surprised to see us. _'And we've been caught.'_

There was a small awkward silence as Ed put his hands in his pockets and tried to get smaller. Though, it didn't last long as it was somewhat broken by Nate. "Oh... hey, Ed. Just passing through. We didn't hear anything, I swear." _'Smooth Nate, real smooth.'_

_______________________________________________________________________________________

"¿Hola?" I held back a chuckle. Claire only starts a conversation in Spanish when she doesn't know who she's talking to.

I took a gulp of air before letting a shaky breath leave my lips. Time to be serious. "Hi, Claire..."

_______________________________________________________________________________________

I broke down into a full-on laugh. I sounded like a dying hyena. They all looked at me for a second before joining in.

This... this right here, is the family I'm fighting for. They are the most important people in my life. I'll protect my family at all costs. Even if it costs me my own life.

_______________________________________________________________________________________

"F-Felicidade!" She ran over to me and glomped me in a tight hug. "Sentia tantas saudades tuas. (I missed you so much.)" My eyes softened as I returned the embrace.

"I've missed you too."

"A tua nonna está a tua espera. (Your grandma is waiting for you.)" She slowly let me go and took a step back. _'Grandma...'_ "Estás preparada? (Are you ready?)" I gave a curt nod before walking to the front door. _'This __is it... it's been 2 months... I can do this!'_

_______________________________________________________________________________________

"Felicity! No puedes hacerlo! (Felicity! You can't do that!)"

"Claire, I'm gonna do it! And that's my final decision!"

"But Felicity! It's dangerous and-"

"Clara, não a podemos parar. A decisão é dela. (Claire, we can't stop her. It's her decision.)"

_______________________________________________________________________________________

_"You were very brave."_

_"I don't feel like it..."_

_"I understand."_

_"You really are a young Spitfire." My head shot up to meet their gaze. "It seems that this is goodbye." I nodded. "For now."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A new chapter will be published every Friday.  
Hope you liked the trailer and have a good a day.


	9. Escape... Again

After lunch, we went back into the **hellhole, **and It was my turn to have the stupid wires on me, so I could "_train_" my powers. "Alright, Felicity, try to repel the trash can across the room." Wilcox's voice rang through the "_training room_" making me roll my eyes. _'I could very well do that just by walking over to it and kicking it.'_

Even though I was quite obviously annoyed, I complied nevertheless, but not before mumbling incoherent curse words, in Italian, under my breath. "Just concentrate. It's not that hard." I mumbled while sternly staring at the metal trash can in front of me. I slowly brought my left hand up and stretched it towards the can.

Nothing happened. Absolutely nothing. Honestly, I can't say I'm surprised, I mean I **knew** my powers wouldn't work. They still haven't exactly **been** working since the incident one-month ago. Everyone is taking it as a "_you are in control of your powers_" kind of thing. And by "_everyone_," I mean the scientists. Totally not annoying.

Though, Dr. Wilcox obviously wasn't pleased. He made me try again for 2 hours, though he did, of course, try and diversify what I had to repel. On some things, it was somewhat successful, like when a tennis ball machine was placed a few feet in front of me and the balls just started shooting at me in an inhuman speed. I was able to repel a few but was still hit by the vast majority. When it got to 4 hours Wilcox decided to try and get me to repel the trash can once more. And surprise, surprise! It didn't work. 

Once more, he told me to try again. It got the point that I was already so pissed that I just ripped the wires off of me, walked over to the can, brought my right foot back and kicked. "Oh, would you look at that, it was thrown across the room. Ya happy now?" I turned back to see a semi-fuming Wilcox who was struggling to try and keep his temper under control.

This whole "_training_" process continued for the next couple of hours, with everyone else having to go forward and "_train_". That is until Wilcox told us that we were done. "That's enough for today. We'll begin again promptly at 0600 hours tomorrow." We all let out groans of annoyance, well except for Asami who didn't seem to understand.

Wilcox looked at Sam before speaking again. "Mou oshimai. Oyasuminasai, Asami-San. (That's it. Goodnight, miss Asami.)" _(AN: Forgive me if I am incorrect. I just checked out google translator and a fan wiki of Young Justice)_

She looked at him for a second before answering with a straight face. "Domo" Or in other words, _thank you _if my Japanese knowledge is correct.

Virgil, Sam and Nate all began to take off the wires that were connecting them to those stupid machines, that I wanted to see explode or at least malfunction. "Please tell me that you're not serious about running." The voice obviously belonged to Nate, since everyone else was on board with the whole escaping plan. Well, kind of since Sam didn't really understand _(AN: I'm just going to continue pointing that out XD)._

"Running, escaping-" Virgil started.

"-Taking the freedom that's rightfully ours." I continue while taking off my lab rat uniform, revealing my plain long sleeve, black shirt and my black combat pants. All this while mindlessly looking at the ground.

"Whatever you want to call it. We're gone." Vir finished as he stared at Nate before taking off his uniform, revealing his underclothes, and grabbing his duffle bag that contains some more pieces of our clothing.

"This is serious! I nearly blew up Central City. My powers may be gone now, but what if they come back? You know, escalate out of control all over again?" I looked at Nate before walking over to Sam. He continued talking as he made his way over to Tye. "What if your powers escalate? Dude, you can't even control them now!" He then looked over to me. "And what about your powers?! Sure, you're able to control them kinda sorta, but what if you lose control again?!" I looked at him but, said nothing. "Look I know Wilcox is a pain, Star is a pain. But, they're trying to keep us safe or... at least, keep the world safe from us..."

There was a moment of silence, through his words hadn't seemed to change anyone's mind. "I'm out of here," Virgil said as he began walking away.

"Oh, yeah." Tye quickly agreed.

"Adiós" Ed said as all three boys made their towards the door.

Sam and I made no move to go towards the door. Me because I was thinking and Asami, because she didn't understand. "You two coming?"

Sam and I looked at each other as she said something in Japanese. "Suimasen?" It sounded more like a question rather than an answer.

"That might mean yes," Tye said.

I looked at him before quickly correcting his mistake. "Yes is something along the lines of Hai, dork" I'm not the most knowledgeable with Japanese, but Maria watches enough anime for me to, at the very least, know something. He shrugged as both he and Ed walked behind us and led us towards the door.

Lovely to say, we were almost through the door when Nate had the **not** so brilliant idea to sound the alarm. "I'm sorry, but I can't let you do this." We all shared worried looks before Virgil pushed us out.

"Let's go!" _'Ok, officially Virgil is the leader of this group." _Virgil was the first one to reach the door, ram into it, pull on it and finally, see that it was locked. "The alarm's put the whole place on lockdown!"

"Great, now what?!" Both Tye and I said in unison, making us look at each other. _'Ok, this just got awkward... great.' _I let out a small huff in annoyance. Oh, yes, forgot to mention. This happens **a lot**.

"No idea." _'Did he seriously just say that? You've got to be shitting me.'_

"Well, what was your escape plan?"

"I didn't actually have a chance to come up with a plan..." My eyes started to twitch. _'You have sooooo got to be shitting me.' _"But... hey, Ed can teleport us out of here!"

"Haven't you been paying attention?! I can only teleport myself- and only along sightlines, which makes escaping from a windowless, locked hallway somewhat difficult!"

Virgil made a small uncomfortable noise before speaking once more. "... No problem! Tye will do his thing and take the roof off this building and pull us all out! Right?"

"Wrong! I don't know how to activate my..." He put his hands up and did some air quotation signs with his fingers."... "_thing_". It just happens."

He made that uncomfortable sound again before turning to me." Well, Felicity can-"

"Oh, no! Don't you even start with me, dude! You know my powers haven't been working! Plus, I can't repel something that's standing still!"

"Suimasen!" I looked at Asami before looking behind me. _'Well, that's not good!' _Behind us stood three Star Lab guards, three very big guards.

"You kids need to come with us." _'Like hell, we do!'_

"Don't think so," Ed grumbled before teleporting behind them. "Behind you." Asami took the opportunity to use her Chi Manipulation and knock two of the guards, Ed and herself to the floor.

"Listen! This is for your own good!"

"Heard that before!" I heard Virg say behind me before seeing a flying fire hydrant passing by my head. It hit the third guard on the back of the head, and he was now on the floor and unconscious.

We ran over to Sam and Ed, as Tye spoke. "Ok, now what?"

"No idea" The light suddenly turned off and the emergency lights came up. "It's a power outage. Hey, maybe I blew the circuit." I noticed Sam making her way to the door and immediately understood what she was gonna do.

"Guys." They all looked at us as we stood next to the open door.

"Hey, no power! No, lockdown!" They all ran to us. Tye and Ed ran out as Virgil put his hands on both mine and Sam's shoulders. "Felicity, Sam, you too are geniuses!"

"Suimasen?"

"N-Never mind..." I rolled my eyes as he pushed us out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A new chapter will be published every Friday,  
Hope you liked it and that you have a good a day.


	10. Not So Successfull Escape

We ran to a bus deport, that we considered far enough from Star Labs. By this point in time, we had all put our hoodies and/or jackets. When we got there, we saw two payphones standing on the opposite side of the street, so both Virgil and I decided to call our families. No, actually Virgil decided to call his family while I just decided to call Claire since my phone had gotten destroyed, thanks to me being kicked into the ocean one month ago.

"¿Hola?"I held back a chuckle. Claire only begins a conversation in Spanish when she doesn't know who she's talking to.

I took a small gulp of air before letting a shaky breath leave my lips. Time to be serious. "Hi, Claire..."

"It can't be... Felicity?!"

"Y-Yeah... it's me." So, stuttering is apparently, the definition of being serious...

"We've been worried sick, chica!"

"I know... that's why I called. I needed to tell you that I'm splendid." I cringed. Lying never was my forte.

"I'm sorry, splendid? That sounds like something you'd say if you were kidnapped! We're you kidnapped?! Where are you now?!"

"I... I wasn't kidnapped... promise..." I winced. I was lying to protect her... I was lying to protect her... "... but I can't tell you where I am..."

"Why?"

"I just can't..."

"Fine... then tell me where you've been these last two months!"

"I... I can't tell you that either... I-"

"What do you mean you can't tell me?! Felicity... what happened?"

"Look, just trust me... okay? I promise everything's fine... I just can't go home for a while..."

"And why not?! If everything's fine, then you should be able to go back home!"

"I... look, there are are some things I gotta do before going home..."

"Like what?"

"I can't tell you that either... not now, at least..."

"Felicity... you're scaring me..."

"Can you just trust me? Please?" There was a moment of silence before I heard a sigh.

"Alright... I'll trust you, but... when you've done whatever the hell it is that your gonna do... you have to tell me what happened... okay?"

"Okay, I promise."

"And go home! Your Abuela has been worried, sick! And Maria hasn't been any better..."

"Are they alright?"

"They're fine, just... worried. We all are..."

"..."

"... It's... It's late... just... just be careful, ok?"

"I will... and Claire?"

"Yeah?"

"Please don't tell my nonna or Maria that I called you..."

"Felicity I can't do-"

"Please!"

She stayed silent for a moment before letting out a heavy sigh. "Esta bien. yo prometo, no diré nada. (Alright, I promise, I won't say anything.)"

"Gracias, amiga."

"Tiene cuidado... (Be careful...)"

"Prometto." _(A/N: This may prove to be confusing in the future, cause I'm going to have conversions in English, Spanish or Portuguese where Felicity starts speaking Italian. Just a warning, in case anyone tells me, that "promise" in Spanish doesn't have two t's, it is in Italian, not Spanish)._ The moment I heard a beep sound, I let out a heavy breath that I never knew I had been holding. Then it dawned on me. I had probably made things worse by calling. _'I probably only worried her more! I shouldn't have called! You stupid, stupid idiot! Think before you-'_

"Felicity? Hey, earth to Felicity. Are you ok?" I snapped out of my daze and looked up only to be met with Virgil's worried gaze.

"Yeah... yeah, I'm good."

"You sure? You seemed lost in thought, and your face was all scrunched up."

I gave him a closed eye smile before answering with the happiest voice I could muster. "No, no, I'm just peachy! Don't worry." I inwardly cringed. _'Ugh, peachy, really?! That sounded _**_so_**_ fake.'_

"Ok, but if you need to, you know, talk, I'm here."

"Thanks." The conversation ended there as both of us made our way back to the bus depot. The window doors slid open and let us in. I passed by a frowning Tye, sat don't between Asami and Ed, placed both my hands in my hoodie pocket, and closing my eyes.

"Dude, I can't believe you two called your families. No way I'm going back to mine."

I opened my eyes and looked up at Tye, meeting his intense stare. "I called my best friend, not my family. Plus, unlike you, I didn't run away. I was gonna meet my other best friend at the airport." He diverted his gaze to Virgil but said nothing.

"Look, I know the Reach was abducting runaways, but with me, they got it wrong. I was grabbed while waiting at a train station to meet my sista. My folks and I, we're good. And they must be worried sick." I glanced between Virgil, who was smiling and Tye, who was still scowling. I re-closed my eyes. _'Grandma's also worried... but I want her to be safe.' _"So, yeah, I called them. I left a voicemail asking them to wire some money. So the five of us could get bus tickets to Dakota city. My home town."

"That's your plan? How are we supposed to find a cure, in Dakota city?" _'And another one who's pissed. Damn, this just isn't our day, is it?' _I huffed lightly before opening my eyes again. I then pulled my legs onto the seat and placed them against my chest.

Virgil gave Ed a worried look before moving towards a vending machine. "No idea." _'And everyone's favorite phrase. Strikes once again.' _"Except I don't really want a cure" He placed his hand in front of the vending machine's opening and made a can of soda fly out and into his hand. "I like my powers." _'That logo... oh, for God's sake!! You _**_have_**_ got to be shitting me!'_

"Dude/Virg, don't drink that! It's Reach!" Tye and I shared a surprised look before I looked away. _'WHY DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING?!' _Virgil spat out the soda and threw the can aside.

"Aw, man" His face was absolutely priceless. I let out a small snicker before regaining my composure.

Tye went to sit on the seat next to Ed. "Wake me up when it's time to go." _'Sleeping sounds so nice. Though, I highly doubt that I can actually fall asleep.'_

I was about to close my eyes _(A/N: For like the one-thousandth time!!)_ but got interrupted by Sam getting up and walking towards the window. _'Ok, whenever this girl moves, that means something's up.' _I quickly got to my feet, preparing in case anything happened. She looked out the window before turning around and pointing outside. "Yabai! Yakura ga kuru!" _(A/N: Look, I got no idea what the heck I heard so here ya go. And if I'm not mistaken, she's probably saying: Oh, no! They're coming!")_

Ed and I looked at Virgil as if he would magically know the answer. "I have no idea."

I noticed the way Sam was looking at me. She was distressed. She looked from me to Ed, and I instantly got the message. I grabbed Ed by the front of his shirt, forced him towards the windows with me, and looked outside. As soon as he saw who was outside, he immediately grabbed hold of both mine and Sam's shoulders and forced us down to our knees. "Compañero, Wilcox is here." Oh, yeah, forgot to mention. Wilcox and most of the guards from Star are outside.

"Oh, great!" Note the sarcasm. Virgil also started to bend down a little as if to try and hide, you know, when we are all in front of **giant** **glass** doors. Virgil sprinted over to Tye and began to shake his shoulder lightly. "Tye! Tye! Wake up, man, we're in trouble." No answer. Unless you count his Astro Form as an answer. _'That's big, like really, really big.'_

His Astro Form-self took the freaking roof off of this place and threw it aside like it was nothing. _'Well, at least Virgil got his wish. Though, not in the place, and circumstances we had hoped for.'_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be a new chapter being published every Friday.  
Have a good day/night and i hope you enjoyed.


	11. Blue Beetle

  
"You said you could trace the call, right?"

"Sim. (Yes.)"

"Good." The female looked down at the computer and watched the younger female work. The youngest of the two, after a few minutes, turned the laptop to face the eldest. "The bus depot. Got-." A ringing sound cut the oldest off. "Yes?"

"They ran away."

"I know."

"I won't even ask."

"And even if you did, I wouldn't tell you.... but, anyway, how **did** they escape?"

"A short circuit..."

"A short circuit? In Star Labs? Virgil's powers?"

"No, something else."

"Sounds fishy, "The female let out a sigh before continuing. "Muy bien, estoy en camino. (Alright, I'm on my way.)"

"Good. You didn't have a choice anyway."

"Is Blue going too?"

"Yes."

"How ironic."

"Just go. Convince them that Star is the safest place for them until we get the Reach off-world."

"Alright, alright. Jesus." The call ended, and the eldest female walked past the youngest. "Gotta go."

"Nightwing?"

"Yup."

"Boa sorte. (Good luck.)"   
___________________________________________________________________

Of course, like normal sensible people Wilcox and the guards all jumped out of the way. You know, so that they **wouldn't** be hit by the flying ceiling.

The guards, after having jumped out of the way, all took out their guns and pointed them towards Tye. _'Oh, hell, no! My powers would really help right now!' _But, they were stopped by Wilcox, who screamed for them to hold fire and not shoot. Oh, yeah, and to make things even better! Blue Beetle just so happened to casually appear. Isn't that great? Please notice the sarcasm.

Me, Ed, and Asami quickly got up and ran over to Virgil, who was, like the rest of us, gawking at the scene that was unfolding in front of us. So, yeah, to put it simply, we looked like idiots.

"Everyone stay calm! The situation is under control." Blue Beetle said to the Star Labs employees, but, of freaking course, he was slammed into the awaiting ground five seconds later. _'Is it? Is it really?'_

I looked at Virgil and asked. "Uh, Virg, what do we do?" Look, I know the guy can't have an answer for **everything**, but it's worth a try! He looked at me and thought for a second before shaking his head.

"No idea." _'Ok, that phrase is seriously starting to pis-' _Safe to say that I had been so distracted that I missed the giant Astro From Tye hand coming down to grab us. That is, until my feet were already off the ground, and I was forced closer to Ed, Virgil, and Asami, then my personal space would allow.

"Tye!"

"Don't think he can hear you." _'Nope, the guy's still sleeping soundly... how? Is anyone's guess.' _Tye then got out of the bus depot or... of its remains? Yeah, it's... uh... remains. And started running away from Wilcox, the guards, and Blue Beetle. _'Where is he taking us? And just how does he know the directions if he's sleeping?!'_

After a few minutes of running, to god knows where, Tye finally, put us down, and we watched as his Astro Form started to become smaller, and he slowly began to descend towards the ground. Virgil and Ed hurriedly went to catch him. "C'mon man wake up!"

"Tye."

Tye's face shifted slowly before he opened his eyes. "How'd I get-" Realization seemed to hit him square in the face as his eyes widened slightly. "Agh, it happened again. Thought I was dreaming." I was about to speak but was beat to it... by Blue Beetle.

"No dream. Trust me." _'SERIOUSLY!! What is up with EVERYONE finding us?!' _He slowly put his hands up in defense. "I'm not here to hurt you. But you five need to go back to Star."

My eyes started to twitch again. _'Oh, I'm gonna punch this guy s-' _I felt a hand on my shoulder, making me look up. It was Virgil. He shook his head slightly and looked down. I followed his gaze and noticed that my hands were curled up into fists, and my knuckles were turning white. I quickly relaxed my hands and felt Virg give my shoulder a light squeeze. He then looked back at Blue Beetle before speaking.

"Look, I recognize you. I know you're one of the good guys. One of the heroes that saved us all from the Reach."

Tye quickly cut in and continued. "But, dude, you just don't get it."

"No, Tye... I really do." I stood there, dumbfounded as Blue Beetle's armor began to disappear. _'It can't be...'_

"J-Jaime?" Tye and I looked at each other before looking back at Jaime. _'My best friend's boyfriend... is... Blue Beetle?'_

"Yeah, it's me."

"H-How?"

"It's a long story..." Blue- I mean, Jaime stopped momentarily before taking off his blouse and hoodie. _'Nope! Nopety nope, nope! I'm a faithful best friend!' _I was about to look away but stopped when he continued speaking, "But, it all started with this Scarab. It was created by the Reach to both give me powers and control me... So, believe me, ese, I get it."

"Does Claire know?"

"W-What?"

"Does she know? That you're Blue Beetle, I mean."

"... No... I... I didn't tell her." I nodded.

"Felicity... what does Claire have to do-"

"She's his/my girlfriend."

"Dude... you have a girlfriend?"

"Yeah, that's how I know him..."

Tye looked between Jaime and me but said nothing. An awkward silence slowly fell between us all. Thankfully though, it was broken by Virgil. "Fine, you're one of us. Except you're running around free as a... a beetle, "I held back a laugh. Fun fact about Virgil: he waves his hands around a lot when he talks. "And you **still** expect us to be lab rats for Star!"

"No more hermano. Not for the Reach or Star."

"We aren't going to be their guinea pigs anymore!" I quickly stated.

"They're right, bro. You can't take us back there." Jaime put his hand on his forehead and let out an annoyed sigh. _'He's acting kinda... weird...'_

"Tye, what's the alternative? I let you guys run lose until the Reach snatches you up again?"

"No, we're headed to my parents' place..." My eyes got slightly wide before I remembered what had been discussed earlier. _'Oh, yeah, we're going to Virgs' parents' house.' _"So they can-"

"Get hurt?! Or killed?! Trying to protect you? **That's** your plan?!" We all stopped and looked at Virg. He was surprised, just like the rest of us. He quickly looked down in shame, making me glare at Jaime. _'Ok, I know that I know him, but I _**_really_**_ want to hit him.'_

"Tasukete kureru no? (Can you help us?)" _(A/N: or something along those lines) _I looked at Sam for a second. _'I hope that that means that she's able to follow the conversation.'_

Blue Beetle let out a sigh once more before answering. "Hai. I'll help you." We all stared at him, dumbfounded. _'Since when does he speak Japanese!?'_

As if on cue, as usual, Tye voiced our thoughts. "Dude, you speak Japanese?"

"The scarab translates. Don't ask." I rolled my eyes. _'That's a question that'll be made by your girlfriend, not by your girlfriend's best friend.' _"Alright, new plan. I have this buddy Green Beetle. He helped me, and I think he can help you guys too. He's not far from here. I'll take you." My eyes narrowed slightly, and I started to feel uneasy. There was something fishy going on, I could feel it. _'That sure didn't take that much persuading... when it comes to Jaime, I mean.'_

He immediately started walking away. The others and I looked at each other before Virgil took the initiative to follow after him. We all followed close behind, but I stayed close to Tye and Sam. My feeling of uneasiness only increased. Something just wasn't right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A new chapter will be released every Friday.  
Hope you enjoyed.  
have a good day/night.


	12. Red Volcano

It didn't take long for us to find the road. Blue- Jaime was still leading us so that we could meet his... friend, Green Beetle. _'Veramente (Honestly), just how many Beetles did the Reach create?!'_

After, a few minutes of silence we heard a phone ringing, the sound was coming from Jaime.

He quickly grabbed his phone and answered with a nervous laugh. "Nightwing! ¿Que pasa?"

"Blue, your radio's down," Nightwing answered. I raised a brow and crossed my arms. _'The dudes' volume's maxed out.'_

"Uh, I'm kinda in-cog-ni-to at the moment, ese."

"Well, armour up. The robot, Red Volcano's attacking Star Labs, Taos-" We all froze and looked at each other. Someone was attacking Star. Meaning that everyone who was in the facility was in danger. "-to steal the body parts of an android called Amazo, probably to incorporate its tech. Since Amazo is capable of duplicating the powers of the Justice League, we can't let Volcano succeed."

"But, I'm on the... runaway team thing. I-I've almost tracked them down." _'Yeah, and you've almost tracked down the "I'm a great liar" speech as well. Claire would have already hit him for lying so poorly...'_

"That can wait. Zeta-tubes are offline, and only Flash and Impulse can get there fast enough. And they're both rescuing tsunami victims in Malaysia. You and Gravitation are the only ones close enough. And before you ask, yes, I've already called her. Yes, she's on her way. And yes, she knows the way." I raised a brow. Gravitation? That's an unusual hero name. "Nightwing out." I snickered slightly. That's an excellent way to end a convo. _'I'm stealing that.'_

Jaime let out a small sigh before turning to us. "Minor setback."

"We heard. Volume on your phone is maxed out."

"Oh, okay." _'He seems weird...' _"Well, stay put and stay out of sight. I'll be back soon." _'And the tough-ass hero persona has returned.' _By the time he finished talking, he was already in the air, flying away.

We all looked at each other before Ed spoke. "My dad might be in trouble."

"Dude, you hate your dad."

"O-Only sometimes!" _'Cute...' _My eyes widen slightly at what I had just thought. _'And now imma stop thinking altogether.'_

"Hey, it's cool. If it were my dad, nothing would keep me away." I scooted closer to Asami, who quickly noticed my discomfort and placed a hand on my shoulder. "I'm with you." Virgil quickly added as he put his hand on Eds' shoulder.

"So, you two want to go back to the exact place that we just escaped from?" Tye asked, amazed while walking over to the two boys. He sighed before continuing. "Whatever... I'm in too." A small smile made it's way onto his lips before he turned to us."Sam? Felicity?"

Asami and I looked at each other, blinked and looked back at the boys. Sam said something in Japanese while giving the thumbs up. That, probably meant that she was in. "I go wherever you guys go." They nodded before we took off in the direction of Star.

Ed teleported all the way to there, Sam carried me while doing her Chi Manipulation thing, while Virg and Tye both road on a random manhole cover.

When we got there, the place looked and sounded normal. It was just like how we had left it.

"Doesn't look like an evil robot's attacking."

We all stood still for a few seconds before an earthquake began underneath out feet causing us to fall. A giant hand-fist-thing flew out of the ground with an unconscious Blue Beetle on it. It exploded dropping him on the ground just as red robot appeared from the hole on the ground. He did some gestures with his hands, causing the floor underneath Blue to engulf him. _'Jaime, oh my god...'_

"Jaime..."

Red Volcano went back into the ground, and all of us ran to where Jaime had been buried. "We have to save Blue Beetle!"

"How? I can't teleport, and your powers won't be if any use either."

Tye put himself on his knees in front of the place Jaime had been a few seconds ago. "I'll save Jaime. You guys just follow the robot. Make sure no one else gets hurt." He ordered us. We all stood there shocked and reluctant, making him look back at us. "Go!"

Ed was the first one to get to where the robot was. He teleported away again before re-appearing with his father. I ran over, as they both winced in pain while holding their sides. _'I remember that pain. Can't say I enjoyed it.' _I cringed slightly at the memory, and subconsciously put a hand on my side. "We'll run interference."

"Will you now?" We looked over to Red Volcano.

Sam quickly clapped her hands and propelled herself at Volcano. Unfortunately, she bounced off of him, hit the wall, and fell to the floor in the process.

Virgil than tried to use his powers on him but was ineffective since they just got reflected back at him, knocking him back.

Red Volcano then turned to me, making me freeze. "My turn meat bags." He raised his hand in my direction.

I quickly shut my eyes, and my arms shot up to my face. I felt something wrap around me before shooting forward and disappearing. When nothing happened, I let my defences fall. Bad idea. A mysterious force slammed into me. Throwing me backwards. I kept my eyes shut as I waited for my back to hit the wall... but it didn't happen. Instead, I felt myself being stopped midway. I opened my eyes and saw that I was floating? The hell?

I was slowly lowered onto the ground. "Hey, you ok?" I shifted my gaze upwards and saw the last person I expected. _'It's that girl!' _Next to me stood the blond-haired, blue masked, floating hero girl. She descended towards the ground and kneeled down next to me. The realization almost hit me in the face as I understood who she was. _'She must be Gravitation! Now that I think about it... it does make sense... for her powers, I mean.' "_You ok?" She repeated. I blinked a few times before nodding my head. She gave a slight nod before flying outside.

I hadn't even noticed that Volcano had been thrown out, there was a hole in the wall, and Virgil was also missing.

I got up with Sam's help before she went to get Ed's dad out of the now crumbling building.

As soon as Sam left, Ed and I went to help whoever was still in the building. We soon found Nate and some of the guards. I threw myself at Nate, hugging him and making sure he was alright before heading to check some of the other rooms as Ed took charge of guiding them out_. "Check the room on your left." _I stopped walking and looked around. No one. There was no one around. _"Look in the room to your left." _There it was again! That voice. I looked around once more but still saw no one. I let out a shaky sigh before following the voice's instructions.

I walked into the room only to find Dr. Strange, semi-knocked out and under a small pile of rubble. I hurriedly freed him, helped him outside, and placed him next to the Star Labs sign.

After leaving Dr. Strange, I went to meet up with Sam and Virgil who were making their way over to Tye and Ed.

"I think we got everyone out."

A small boom was heard as Volcano was thrown out of Star Labs and onto the ground. He looked at us and raised his hand. The ground underneath us began to shake as hands, made out of earth, shot up and trapped us.

He shifted his attention to Blue Beetle and Gravitation who had emerged from another hole in the wall. Gravitation flew over to us, but before being able to help, she was captured. "Time to sacrifice your victory in order to save the meat bags like a good hero."

"You shouldn't stereotype!" Blue Beetle said as he went to attack. Leaving us. I stop struggling for a second, letting the new information sink in. _'That bastardo's gonna sacrifice us!'_

_"Concentrate on repelling what is around you."_ I froze up again. It was the same voice from before. _'Who said that?!' _No answer. I let out a sigh before closing my eyes tightly and concentrating. _'Repel what's around you.' _My eyes shoot open as I felt the hand break and fall to the ground. "I did it."

Ed stormed over to us. "Your friend was gonna sacrifice us!" _'He's right... I never thought Jaime would do that... it... it's not part of his character... something's off..."_

"This isn't like him..." I glanced at Gravitation. She was shaking slightly.

Blue Beetle quickly finished Volcano off and flew over to us. "Done! Now we need to get you to Green Beetle!" I felt Gravitation tense up beside me, making me throw another glance her way.

"Green Beetle?" Her voice wasn't even above a whisper.

"Jaime, I'm not sure-"

"Tye! This is not up for debate! We need to go now!"

"But Jaime-"

"No! Felicity, we're going!" I took a step back in surprise. Jaime has never reacted this way towards me. _'Something's way off...'_

"H-Hey, excuse me!"

"Hey, hero! Over here!"

"How about a few words!"

A few journalists appear, holding up their microphones while asking Blue Beetle some question. Gravitation spared us one last glance before sighing. "Go! I'll take care of this." The others and I look at each other before walking away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be new chapters every Friday.  
Hope you enjoyed.  
Have a good day/night.


	13. Lex Freaking Luthor

"Blue! Wait!"

"What?!"

"The hell has gotten into you?! You never act this way!"

"Why did you have to get involved?! Nightwing shouldn't have called you!"

"What's that supposed to mean?! I was coming to do the same thing you were!"

"Yeah, and what a **great **job you did!"

The female flinched and took a step back. "What the hell happened to you? Desde que Green Beetle reinicio tu escarabajo, has estado actuando diferente. ¿Que está pasando? (Ever since Green Beetle rebooted your scarab, you've been acting differently. What's going on?)" _(A/N: I am so sorry if this is incorrect, I took Spanish but I'm not the best)._

"No pasa nada. (There's nothing going on.)"

"But, you aren't acting norm-"

"Will you just drop it?!" The female in front of him flinched once more.

"Can we just talk?!"

"You really don't know when to give up, do you?"

"You know the answer." The male in front of her massaged his temples before rolling his eyes, turning his back to her, and walking away. "H-Hey! Where are you going!"

"I have to meet up with someone."

"Who? Green Beetle?!"

"¡Sí! ¡Ahora cállate! (Yes! Now shut up!)" The female stopped walking for a second before flying in front of the male, preventing him from taking another step forward.

"You're not going until you tell me what's going on!" He glanced behind her and smirked

"Alright, you want to know what's going on?" She nodded slowly. "Look behind you." She swirled around but saw nothing.

"Wha-" A thud was heard as the female fell to the ground, unconscious.

"I thought she would never stop talking, bother."

"What do we do with her?"

"We take the meat bag to the Reach, gaining control of her shouldn't be very hard."

_____________________________________________________________________

"Hey, Virg? You sure this is a good idea?"

"Of course! It's perfect! It's the one place they'd never think to look! I mean... not a second time."

You see, after having run away from Blue Beetle, Virgil here had the idea for us to go back to the bus depot, that we had previously... destroyed. Saying that it would be a good place to hide since no one would think of looking for us there a second time. To which at the time I responded with: "That's stupid"

And yet here we are. I just realized that asking if this was a good idea would... have probably been better asked before coming here... when we could still turn back. Oh, well. What's done is done. Savvy.

We all stopped walking once we got in front of the now almost demolished building. Tye walked over to some rubble and sat down. "I'm done running."

"Yo, también."

"Agreed."

"So, now what?" Ed asked as he looked at Virgil. We all stood still for a second.

"No idea." We all answered simultaneously. _'Last phrase I thought I'd _**_ever_**_ use.'_

I felt Asami shift next to me before pouting forward. "Suimasen!" We all followed her gaze and saw a white car pulling up in front of us. _'Nope... totally not creepy at all.'_

"Suimasen... that means trouble. Doesn't it?" Sam looked at Virgil and gave the thumbs up.

"No idea." I snorted. _'Figures that's the first thing she says in English.'_

One of the front doors of the car opened and a woman wearing a pen skirt walked out. _'Ah, a businesswoman... great.' _My eyes narrowed slightly when she walked around the car and went to open the back seat door. Once she opened it, the person who walked out was the last person you'd expect... _'Lex Luthor. The hell is he doing here?' _I had heard of him from my nonna and from TV. I knew that people liked him and trusted him but, my nonna and I always had an uneasy feeling about him. We didn't trust him... he always seemed... fake.

He made his way over to us as the woman closed the car door. _'Wow, that's the nicest thank you I've ever seen. Note: sarcasm.'_

"Hey, you're Lex Luthor." I looked at Virgil for a second in annoyance.

"Yeah, no shit Sherlock."

Luthor ignored my comment and began speaking. "Yes, and you are Virgil Hawkins, Asami Koizumi, Eduardo Dorado, Tye Longshadow and..." He looked at me for a second before smiling and continuing. _'Why the hell is this creep smiling?!' _"Felicity Fiore... you were a baby the last time I saw you." I stiffened up.

"Excuse me?"

"I was... friends, with your father... before his passing." I froze. _'My... father... was friends with this piece of humanity?!' _I couldn't bring myself to speak. My hands balled into fists and I took a step forward. I was about to plumber this guy into the ground until... two hands grabbed my wrists.

I looked down at my right wrist and saw that Tye was holding it. I shifted my attention to my left wrist noticing that it was being held by Ed. Looking at both their faces I saw that both boys wore the same expression: Distrust... towards Luthor.

Tye let go of my wrist and moved to stand protectively in front of me. A hand was placed on my shoulder as another presence moved to send beside me, I cocked my head to the side and saw Sam who nodded towards me as reassurance. I turned my attention back to Tye just as he began to speak. "You know us?" He gestures towards everyone except me.

Luthor let out a laugh and answered. "Know you? My boy, I've been watching over you for weeks." And this guy just gets creepier and creepier. "Even arranged the power outage that facilitated your escape from Star. Not to mention the timely arrival of the press, which enabled you to evade Blue Beetle... who, as you might have guessed, has become an agent of the Reach."

My eyes widen slightly. _'Jaime is... with the Reach? T-That can't be true... he wouldn't...' _I stopped for a moment as I recalled the moment he abandoned us. _'His personality is changed... but... he couldn't have done that with his own free will... he just wouldn't...'_

"But... you work with the Reach. You make their refresco... their beverage."

"True. But, I've come to suspect they've been using me for their own ends. And I think you know what that feels like." We all looked at each other and took his words in.

He let out a sigh before going back to talking. "It's a dangerous world." I scoffed. "Fortunately, I have the resources to protect you."

"And why are you telling **us** this? It's obvious that you want something! So spit it!" This guy was seriously getting on my last nerves.

"Yeah, what **do you want**?"

"To empower you, not Meta-powers. You're doing just fine on that front. Instead, I want to help the five of you finally take control of own destinies." I narrowed my eyes at him and scoffed once more. This guy has to be living a fantasy.

"Our own destinies? Really? That's the best line you could come up with?? That sounds like a load of crap to me."

"I am being very serious." He slowly turned to Sam and me before walking over to us. I moved slightly closer to her. I don't trust him. He looked at Sam and held his hand out to her. "Kimi no chikara ni, naritain da. ( I will be your strength.) _(AN: Or something along those lines. What he means is: I want to help. Which, either way, sounds creepy coming from him.)_

She looked up at him and shook his hand. "Ah... domo?" That was the most questionable _"thank you"_ I have ever heard. She was obviously surprised.

"No pressure my friends. " I cringed. Friends. That wasn't the word I'd use. I wouldn't even say, acquaintances. "I'm not going to make you do anything you don't want to do. But, I'm hoping, that you can trust me. What do you say." We all looked at each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapters shall be released every Friday.  
Have a good day/night and I hope you enjoyed.


	14. New Place

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was supposed to be published yesterday but I didn't have time to publish it here.  
Anyway, normally there aren't three chapters in one day unless it is a special occasion or I feel like it. Enjoy!!

We said yes... probably the biggest mistake we've ever made but I had already decided to follow the others no matter what, even if I'm not totally comfortable with the idea. But, since my father had trusted Luthor enough to be... acquaintances, then maybe I can do the same... or at least, try. I decided to trust him, even if I had a voice in the back of my head telling me that this was a bad idea.

After having agreed to trust Luthor, we followed him into the car. It was an awkward silence for the majority of the trip, after many failed attempts of beginning conversations with each of us. He **did** **try** to start a conversation with me, asking about my interests... nope, totally not creepy. I didn't reply. Then... about my parents. I would have punched him if it hadn't been for Sam holding me back. He gave up after that, with me at least, but not with the others. Sam was the only one who actually answered. I couldn't blame her. We all got along well, but she needed to talk to someone who spoke the same language as her... unfortunately, it just had to be Lex Freaking Luthor.

He needed up taking us to a shopping mall, where we bought cellphones and other stuff. Hey, what can I say? The guy is freely letting us spend his money, I'm making the most of it. I normally wouldn't accept, but I still didn't trust him, so I didn't particularly care if we used his money to buy whatever we wanted. I mean, he **did** offer. Sam and I ended up buying dictionaries to try and make our understanding of each other easier. Sam and the guys bought skateboards, I didn't follow. I'm not a skateboard kind of person, I prefer roller skates.

After, buying the skateboards and phones and all that shazam, we decided to look around. Me being the one to decide, since I wanted to get away from Luthor who had, once again, tried to speak of my parents, saying and I quote: "You look just like your parents. You act like them too... same recklessness as your father, and the same spirit as your mother... not easy to break..."

I tried ignoring him, but he only continued, which resulted in me trying to think of a nice way to say: Please fuck off.

After, what felt like an eternity he finally seemed to notice the tension and asked why I don't seem to trust him. Honestly, it didn't surprise me that he asked or noticed, for that matter. I wasn't exactly trying to hide it or put up a fake facade. The only answer I gave him was that he seemed fake, before turning my back and walking away and deciding to, as I said, explore the shopping.

A while after having walked away from the group, I found a small porcelain shop. What caught my attention wasn't the shop itself, but the porcelain doll on the window display. The doll was quite pretty, she had ginger hair put up in a bun, dark green eyes, a light orange dress with a floral design in golden, there was also a yellow shawl covering her arms and back. In her left hand, she held a white orchid, while her right hand held the shawl. _(A/N: Ok, so I know some people are creeped the hell out by porcelain dolls... but imagine her looking kind of like Bo Peep from Toy Story 4. That's what I did.)_

As soon as I saw her, I knew that Sasha would love her. Sasha is my neighbours' 7-year-old daughter. She has a fascination for anything "magical" and for porcelain dolls, though, she has none. I have already gone with Sasha and her parents to the mall, and every time we passed by any story with a porcelain doll she would squeal and point at the doll, for a full 20 minutes.

As much as I wanted to buy her the doll, there was no way in hell that I would ask Lex Luthor to buy it so that I could give it to the kid. I would get that doll with my own hard-earned money. That was always a rule me and nonna had: _Always buy a gift with your own money. Never allow anyone to buy it for you._

Funny enough, just I had managed to relax... an idiot decided to give me a heart attack. Resulting in this little scenario:

_I let out a squeak, whipped around with my fist up, and threw my fist forward, aiming for a punch. I missed. The person had moved to the side just in time. "Whoa."_

_"Tye! Do." I punched him in the shoulder. "Not." I punched him once more. "Sneak." And again. "Up." And again. "On." And again. "Me." Again. "Like." I prepared to punch harder. "That!" And done._

_"Ow! Stop hitting me." He laughed while caressing his arm. "Damn, you pack some good punches."_

_"I better, Claire would kill me if I didn't."_

_"Is she the one who'd love the creepy doll?"_

_"Wha? No! She'd break it. And it is not creepy!"_

_"But, it is."_

_"It's not! You just have no taste!" I looked at the doll. "Anyway, Sasha's the one that would love it..."_

_"Sasha? You never talked about her."_

_"She's my neighbour's daughter... she's always loved porcelain dolls."_

_"Then get it for her."_

_"How? My money's at home and I'd rather die than have Lex Luthor buy this as a gift for her."_

_"I can get it."_

_I stopped for a second and blinked before laughing. "You don't have any money either! How would that work?" Tye stared at me for a few seconds before letting a small laugh out._

_"Hello, donkey." The mockery could be heard in his voice._

_When I calmed down, I punched him in the arm, once more. "Jerk."_

_"I didn't do anything wrong."_

When this little exchange of words ended... sorta... Tye gave the idea for us to ask the shop owner if she/he could keep the doll until I could afford it. Thankfully, the owner agreed... but, unfortunately, as soon as we left the shop we were face-to-face with Mercy who creepily popped out of nowhere, and made my heart almost leave my chest:

_I looked in front of me and was immediately greeted by Mercy. "Holy mother of blissful God! Don't do that!" She said nothing. 'This woman is seriously creepy.'_

_"We are all waiting for you both. Come." By the time she finished speaking, she was already 6 feet ahead of us. 'God, damn this lady walks fast!'_

One hour of pure agonizing silence later, we stopped in front of a building, that Lex Luthor told us we would be staying at:

_"Well, now that we have arrived, I should probably tell you... this is where you'll be staying." My mouth fell open. Is he serious?! This guy... the Lex Luthor was giving is a place of our own?! First the trip to the mall and now this?_

_"First the mall and now this?" 'Wow, we must have the same mind or something.' "Just, what are you playing at?" Tye kept looking at Luthor skeptically. He didn't buy it._

_"I have nothing planned, do not worry. I just thought you all deserved it, plus you will have no adult supervision whatsoever meaning that you are free to run the place as you like." We all looked at each other and I raised a brow. 'That was oddly and creepily specific.'_

_"How do we know you didn't put cameras somewhere... or everywhere, for that matter!?"_

_"I promise you, I have not. I haven't even chosen an apartment yet. I leave that decision to you." A smile made its way onto his face. 'Creep.' "But I will, of course, be giving you money so that you can get whichever room you'd like." He paused and examined all of our expectations. "And I'll still give you some extra money for clothes, food, and anything else you may feel is needed."_

_"Are you'd serious?!" I winced. Damn, I'm not even next to Virgil, and he already hurt my ears._

_"Very." He dug his hand into his pocket and took out a whole load of cash before handing it to Virgil, who just stared at the money with a blank expression._

_Tye took the money out of his hands before opening the door and stepping out._

_"Goodnight." We all exited the car without a word._

After that, Tye chose the apartment, that apparently... was really big. The moment you walk in you see the living room/dining room/kitchen, that was, actually, quite big; you walk a little further in and down the hall and you see three bedrooms, two of which had two beds; in front of the bedrooms there were two bathrooms; and down the hall there was what we believe to be a storage room, that we would never use.

The place itself is quite homey and clean, in other words... the worst place to put a bunch of super-powered teens, unsupervised.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapters are published every Friday.  
I hope you're enjoying the story so far.  
Have a good day/night/afternoon.  
Thank you for reading.


	15. Beeing... Teens

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this is the smalles chpter so far.  
My imagination was kind of lacking.  
But, I'm actually quite happy with how it turned out.  
New chapter will be published later today, or at least I'll try.

_I felt a zapping sensation hitting my skin, jolting me awake. Looking around startled, I noticed other teens, all of which seemed to be either unconscious or about to wake up. We were all placed separately in what I could only assume are pods, probably._

_I lost track of my surroundings for a bit when the zapping continued, slightly stronger than what I had previously felt. A yelp followed with a terrified gasp left my lips as I saw the creatures that were in front of my pod. 'What-What are those things?!' They were smiling creepily which left a bad taste in my mouth and an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of my stomach._

_The creatures began to talk, at least, I assume that's what that was. Weird sounds were heard every time they opened their mouth. One of the creatures turned away from the other and started messing with a weird type of computer, and my thought process was completely cut off as I lost consciousness._

___________________________________________________________________

"Dude there are better ways to wake her up."

"She wasn't responding any other way man..."

"I'd move out of the way if I were you. Remember what happened last time you did that?" Moving my hands to my face I felt something soft and fluffy on it. I slowly grabbed the said soft object and moved it. A pillow.

"Good po-" Before Virgil could finish his sentence, he fell backwards with a pillow on his face.

"Don't wake me up like that's again."

"Told you."

A muffled sound was heard from under the pillow. "Can't hear you." The sound got louder, but words still couldn't be made out. "Still nothing." God, teasing him was fun... until, I felt the damned pillow hit my face once more, knocking me back.

"I said, you weren't waking up any other way!" Removing the pillow, once more, I jumped to my feet and threw it at him... but, I missed... he bent down just in time... making the pillow hit... _'Oh shit...' _Ed... straight in the face. It slowly started to slide down before falling to the floor. I dropped back onto the sofa as loud laughs passed my lips. _'His- His face... omg, it's priceless!' _Pain shot through my sides as my laughter only seemed to increase. I shut my eyes, grabbed my sides and bent down. By the looks of it, this was not gonna be subsiding any time soon.

I heard a grunt from beside me. I was able to open my eyes long enough to see Sam with the pillow in her hands. "Dude, you missed." The whole thing only made my laughing fit get bigger.  
A dark aura surrounded Sam, she slowly got to her feet, brought her arm backwards, and threw the pillow, unfortunately, missing her target and hitting Tye.

I was yanked out of my laughing fit by being hit, once again, by the pillow. And that was the beginning of our pillow fight... at 1 in the morning...

It was actually quite comical. By the time we "_stopped_", there were feathers everywhere. The sofas were turned upside down to serve as our shields. Virgil was in the middle of the "_battlefield_" lying on the floor, covered in feathers, and now empty pillowcases, since we all ended up throwing the pillows at him when he tried to "_surrender_" to us girls. Yes, we made teams.

There was the 1st team, that consisted of Sam and I. And the 2nd team, that consisted of Tye, Ed and Virgil. The teams were created after Sam hit Tye instead of Ed, as her original plan entailed. To put it simply, Tye tried getting his revenge but missed Sam and hit me. I took my revenge by grabbing a second pillow and throwing it at him. Hitting my target.

I'm not sure what happened next but, in a blink of an eye, the boys' couch had been tipped over, with all three boys still on it. They ended up using it as a shield, ganged up on us, and began throwing more pillows in our direction. Sam and I decided to follow their example and use our couch as a shield. The pillow war continued on, for two and a half more hours. That is until Virgil surrendered or... in this case... tried to. Since he had been the one to start everything, he thought it would be a good idea to be the one to end it all.

The place was a complete mess. We were lucky to not have moved the fight to the hallway or to the rooms, which we almost did.

"I surrender! Please!" I peeked over the edge of the couch and stared at Virgil contently.

"You sure?"

He stayed silent for a minute before slowly moving to look at me. "No."

"Wha-" I was unable to finish my phrase when a presence suddenly materialized behind me. I shot back only to be met with a pillow, again, to the face. I quickly grabbed it and threw it to the side. "Ed..." His only response was an amused smirk followed by his disappearance.

I turned back to where Virgil was, but he was gone. "Oh, you're so dead."

"Just a fair game."

"A fair game doesn't involve powers."

"Oops."

Turning my attention to Sam I saw the pillows in her hands, a smirk on her face and determination in her eyes. _'We might be taking this way too seriously, but who cares?' _Our attack began as we invaded their shield space.

The fight began once again, but this time, towards the rooms and with the use of our powers. About two more hours later, we stopped, once again with Virgil surrendering but, this time, for real. Everything was in an even bigger mess by the end of the second war. God only knows how, we had managed to find more pillows so, everything was even more feathery than before. Feathers scattered the rooms, the kitchen/dining room/living room, the hallway and were falling from the ceiling. There were feathers in our hair and clothes as well, making us look like a bunch of chickens.

Virgil stood in the middle of the hallway with feathers falling around him. Sam and I were in our room in hiding. Tye and Ed were in Tye's room waiting for Virgil to finish his peace treaty declaration.

We ended up agreeing and ending our "_feather war_". We saw the state of the house. _'Damn, first, day and we already killed this place.' _The living room didn't only have feathers and dead pillowcases, but pizza boxes as well. Probably should have mentioned that earlier. We also ended up blowing up a couch by accident with Sam and Virgil's powers combined... don't ask... "We clean tomorrow?" We were all fast to accept his idea. We were far too tired to clean everything. Sleep was a better option, even if our beds were the equivalent to a feathery bird's nest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapters every friday.  
Hope you enjoyed and that your day is going well.


	16. A/N

** _So I have no idea what made me think of this but nevertheless here I go:_ **

** _1st- Sorry for not having published two chapters on Friday, I didn't have much inspiration. (*cough**cough*As you can see by the chapters itself *cough**cough*)_ **

** _2nd- Here's a question: What do you think of the idea of previews? Like a preview for the next chapter at the end of every chapter. Be honest, you can tell me if it's an Ok Idea or a Terrible Idea. Because God forbid, I know this isn't a good idea but please be honest._ **

** _And for next Friday I already have the chapters ready. So there will be two. And if you like or think the Preview Idea is Ok or Not Too Bad or whatever, I'll make a small preview before the next chapter._ **

** _BTW my previews are like one phrase thing._ **

** _EDIT: I've already decided XD but I'd still love to know what you guys think._ **


	17. Cleaning... Oh Joy (Preview)

** _One of the first_ ** ** _ Preview_ ** ** _s _ ** ** _I've _ ** ** _ever _ ** ** _made... ever._ **   
** _This'll be literally like one paragraph long, and won't really give much to you. As in, it won't really give much info as to what will happen next chapter._ **

**_If you think I should make a different type of preview that isn't a paragraph from the actual chapter, I'm all ears! Unless that's how a preview is actually done. Still new at this _**😅  
**_Yes, I'm a cringe human. _**  
**_Enjoy!_**

** _ Preview: _ **

"What's up with all the commotion over here? I'm trying to sleep." I screeched and threw the pillow behind me. "Watch it." Looking over my shoulder I smiled nervously. A pissed off, sleepy Tye wasn't someone you want to mess with.

** _(This is the only preview that won't be at the end of a chapter, every other will be. Thank you for your time!)_ **


	18. Cleaning... Oh Joy

A loud crashing sound caused me to shoot up from my comfortable feathery sleep position. Turning my head to the side, I saw Sam with the same surprised and annoyed look on her face as me. Grabbing my phone I saw that it was 10 AM... oh **hell** no!

I threw the feather-covered covers off of me and walked to the door with Sam following close behind. I grabbed a random pillow that had been abandoned in the middle of the hallway and made my way towards the kitchen/living room/dining room area. The sound of metal softly hitting other metal got louder and louder, the closer we got to the end of the hall.

When we got there we saw Ed and Virgil with what looked like pots and pans all over the kitchen floor and in their arms. Grocery bags on the kitchen counter and boys both bickering with each other. Time to interrupt.

"What the hell are you two idiots doing?" They stopped and turned their heads to face us.

"Uh... good morning?"

"It's 10 AM, you better have a good reason for all this damned noise." Both boys looked at each other for a second. "Sam and I, were quite happy sleeping." I motioned towards the younger girl who looked like she was about to commit murder and go back to sleep straight after.

"Cooking?"

"Cooking? You two know how to cook?" They reluctantly nodded making me raise a brow in annoyance.

"What's up with all the commotion over here? I'm trying to sleep." I screeched and threw the pillow behind me. "Watch it." Looking over my shoulder I smiled nervously. A pissed off, sleepy Tye wasn't someone you want to mess with.

"Morning." He nodded.

"Morning dude." He nodded again.

I looked back at Virgil and asked. "Just what made you want to cook? We don't even have food." My attention shifted towards the feather-covered ground where some pizza boxes laid making me cringe in disgust. "I mean, we do... it's just not edible anymore."

"We went shopping." he motioned to the plastic bags on the counter.

"Should I even ask how you got mister grumpy pants over there out of bed? In the morning, more specifically."

"He-"

"I was already awake. And don't call me that's again."

"Gee, dude chill." I put my hands up on defence. "Were all grumpy." He scoffed but said nothing. "Anyway... how'd... uh... this-" I gestured to the pots and pans in both boys' arms and that were scattered on the floor. "-happen?"

"I was distracted and put everything in Ed's arms..."

"Dude..."

"What were you two gonna cook anyway?"

"No idea." I facepalmed.

"What did you buy?"

"Pots, pans, frying pans and food."

"What kind of food?"

"Every kind?"

"Dude!" I rolled my eyes and went to help them.

"We might as well just eat bacon and eggs. No point in making a big feast, since it's obvious we're not very hungry. You know, since most of us **just woke up**." The boys nodded while Sam just stood to the side awkwardly. "Asami?" She looked at me and I motioned with my head towards some pots on the floor.

Took us about 10 minutes to organize the metal kitchen stuff and the groceries, and took us about 20 minutes to get the food ready and eat it. Having five teens in one small kitchen space wasn't the brightest idea, but we managed.

"So, how are we gonna clean... all this?" There were Pizza boxes scattered all over the floor, don't ask how but in one night we had 5 pizzas... and we didn't finish all of them. Everything was covered in feathers, in such a way that if you just sneezed you would start a feather storm. Not to mention the couches that had been turned upside down, the couch that had been blown up and whose pieces were all over the living room floor and table.

I don't even dare to look up because I was sure there were pieces of Pizza hanging from the ceiling. How? I don't know. Probably has to do with the fact that we decided to have a pillow fight with our powers.

The only parts of the apartment that were still livable were the storage room, the bathrooms and Virgil/Eduardo's room. Everything else looked like a hurricane puked on us. Lovely first day to say the least.

"Yeah, how do we clean all this?"

"Uh... magic?"

"Dude, no."

"I absolutely forbid the usage of our powers!" I turned to Virgil and lifted up an accusing finger. "You boys started the power fight last night, and our powers would only help to make things... worse."

"I-"

"Not to mention the fact that we have a blown up couch, that we're gonna have to replace."

"But-"

"An-" My speech was cut short by a hand being placed over my mouth.

"Let the guy finish. It's too early for speeches. Especially from you." Tye removed his hand, crossed his arms and turned back to Virgil. "Continue." I pouted and crossed my arms.

"I never said to use our powers. But we do have to work together, or else this place'll never be cleaned."

"This is a team building thing... isn't it?" Virgil and turned his back and went to grab something.

"Never said that!" I rolled my eyes.

"Whatever, you're the boss. What do we do-" Something hit me in the face before slowly floating to the ground. An empty trash bag. Oh, joy. _'Why can't they just say: Heads up! Or, Catch!?'_

"We take care of the feathers first. They're everywhere. Literally."

You know that feeling you get when you've been cleaning for hours on end and you feel like you've accomplished nothing? Yeah, that's what I'm feeling. The urge to plumber someone to the ground grows every second.

We have, quite literally, been getting feathers out of every corner of this place. Every time we think we got them all, a bunch more just randomly appear. One of the times Ed was taking his trash bag to the door but accidentally sneezed on it... oh, the pain and agony. Feathers everywhere. The poor boy even got pale and ended up teleporting away while cursing in Spanish and saying that he gave up. Can't say I blame him.

Tye has already taken out three bags filled with feathers. Every time he returned looking even the slightest bit content... it would fade... and die. In the burning fires of hell. Because he'd open the front door for two seconds and see that the feathery mess that was our apartment... was still a feathery mess. He had already finished his room, so he decided to just give up and stay there. Screw if there were any extra feathers. He wanted peace.

Asami looked pure and utterly horrified with ever freaking bag that would appear in front of the front door. The pile of bags only got bigger and bigger, and the girl looked like she had just seen a ghost. We already finished our room, and we were, hopefully, finishing the hallway. After like the two hundredth bag, it was obvious that she wasn't going to hold up much longer since we both woke up early, didn't sleep for long, and we're going around the hallway like a bunch of crazy people trying to grab every last flying feather in the vicinity.

We finally finished the stupid hallway and Sam went to our room. After I pushed her in and said one of the few words I knew in Japanese_ (A/N: Maybe, not sure if it’s correct)_: _Yasumu_ or in other words _Rest_. Maria used to text this to me all the time when she knew I was up late. How she knew? Beyond me. There are mysteries better left unsolved.

I took the trash bags into the living room and left them by the front door. I switched my attention to Virgil who was trying to grab some feathers that seemed to enjoy flotation in the air just to mock him. I rolled my eyes and went to help him. He, of course, didn't protest. Help was help and it was needed.

The living room/kitchen/dining room area took about 2 more hours to finish. Well, finish taking out the feathers I mean. There was still the dead couch, pizza boxes and ceiling pizza. Ed and Tye had helped Virgil with this area in the beginning but, god damn was this place hard. By the end, we were popped. Dead on the inside and exhausted on the outside. Everyone else seemed to have crashed completely when they got to their beds. They were sleeping peacefully thanks to the lack of sleep from the night before.

Virgil and I decided to do the same, saying our goodnights and heading to our respective rooms. Oh yes, did I forget to mention that it's nighttime already? Because it is. We took the entire day... to clean feathers... Oh, sweet baby Jesus.

When I got to mine and Asami's shared room I saw her sleeping peacefully. _'Adorable.' _I walked to my bed and face planted onto it. Comfortability wasn't necessary. Just sleep. Far too exhausted to care about anything. Just sleep. Nothing else.

** _-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_ **

** _ Next chapter Preview: _ **

"Anyone else see the second moon that casually just spawned in the sky?"

"Wait what?!"

I looked at him. "The second moon. Right there." I pointed towards the sky while the guys just gawked at me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A new chapter will probably be posted later today.  
Thank you for your time and have a good day/night.


	19. Second Moon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just finished this chapter, today.  
Not sure if the chapters are getting worse or not, but I hope they're at least fun to read.  
The next two chapters will be two of the most important ones. This will be a little bit of torture for you guys... I am so sorry ^^  
Have fun!

The week continued on, and we didn't do much. I mean we did. We finished up the apartment... as much as we could anyway. There wasn't much use in cleaning the pizza boxes or soda cans from the floor since we'd only get more and more as time went by. The couch had been thrown out after a whole discussion about manhood being tainted or whatever, between the boys.

Ed had reluctantly offered to teleport the blown up couch to the garbage and dump it there, but both older boys declined the younger boy's offer.

So Tye and Virgil ended up trying to get the couch out of the apartment by picking it up and failing to get it through the door since it was closed, and they're idiots.

By the end of this, Sam and I came to the brilliant conclusion that they're idiots. Before both dorks even got the murdered piece of fabric out and onto the trash, us girls decided to round up all the scattered pieces of said murdered fabric and give them to Ed, who teleported next to the garbage and threw them out. You know, the easy way.

We did end up getting a new couch, that looked almost identical to the one we had destroyed. But this time we didn't let Tye and Virgil get their way. Ed teleported the damned thing where we wanted and that's that. No more manhood convos.

After this fiasco, we still had more to do, which we've successfully done, by the way! Luckily all the feathers were gone so, we didn't need to die every time we sneezed. But God damn, was it hard to get every feather out. There were some still hidden in some parts of the house, the fridge included. Still, haven't found out how.

Anyway, it's officially been a week since our successful escape from Star Labs. We haven't gotten any news from Luthor, and for that, I am thankful. I don't really want to remember the fact that we are surviving thanks to **his** money. Not exactly the most memorable thing.

"Felicity. Wake up." My body was shaken softly but I didn't even try to open my eyes. Sleep is more important. "... That's it."

"Wait, Ed don-" The second voice was suddenly cut off. My eyes shot open as slight pain shot through my side.

"Dude! What the-" My mind finally caught up with me. We were in Virgil and Ed's room. The heck?! "What are-" Ed... the kid just... "Did you just teleport us to your room?" He gave a measly nod. "How did..." The room door shot open revealing a worried Asami who immediately helped us up. Virgil and Tye appeared behind her.

"Dude! Don't do that!"

"Guess it's a new way to wake people up..."

The rest of our day ended up being very... awkward. The kid ended up ignoring me. Ok, I get it. What he did was surprising but it wasn't a bad thing, nor should it make things awkward. I honestly feel like the kid doesn't like me, at all.

Right after I got up, I found out that Mama Virgil had been cooking. And he wouldn't let us do anything until we ate. Not that I minded. His cooking was yummy.

We did nothing after eating. Watching TV, bickering, eating, watching more TV. That was pretty much our day. The day time anyway. Nighttime was... slightly different.

The TV was currently on and Sam and Ed were playing video games. Oh, yeah, we bought a PlayStation or whatever that thing was called, along with some games. This only happened cause the guys wanted video games and honestly, I did too. Nothing better to do, so we might as well play.

Anyway, Sam and Ed were sited on the floor, in order to play the game that they were so crazily concentrated on. The rest of us just sat on the couches. Watching the two youngest teens of the group yell words in their native languages whenever something happened that they didn't like, was fun.

I had already learned every type of Japanese's curse word you could possibly say. Sam doesn't usually say them unless it's something like this. A game, where she might be losing. Plus I had a dictionary for this very reason. Yes, it included, for some reason, Japanese curse words. So it's hilarious.

I'd laugh whenever Sam would accidentally curse, but I'd also laugh when Ed did it. Though, with him, it was easier to know when he's cursing or not. When you've spent as much time with Claire as I have, you know pretty much everything, in Spanish at least. That girl was never a clean mouthed person.

"Be right back." I heard a few grunts in reply as I lifted myself off the couch and moved towards the hall. Duty calls... though, I didn't get very far. When I was passing by one of the windows, I had the bright idea of looking outside. "Anyone else see the second moon that casually just spawned in the sky?"

"Wait what?!"

I looked at him. "The second moon. Right there." I pointed towards the sky while the guys just gawked at me.

Virgil got up and walked over to me. Looking outside his eyes visibly widen. "No way."

"Yes, way." He shot me a short glare. "Looks weird."

"Yeah-"

"Uh... guys... you might want to have a look at this." They weren't playing that game anymore, someone probably won. The TV was still on but it was on a news channel now.

**"There's panic across the country and around the world. What NASA calls an encroaching planetary body, is already having a gravitational impact on the earth."**

We all looked at each other. _'This can't be good.'_

**"Ties have altered and so-called mini tidal waves have become common place. The US Weather Service is advising the populous to stay off the water and move inland from the coastlines."**

The news only seem to get worse. Cat Grant's face slowly fell as she looked uncomfortably towards the camera.

**"And it appears, this is only the beginning..."**

We continued following the news until something new came up... the Reach, was on TV. This better be good.

**"The Reach and the United Nations, take this unprovoked and aggressive threat very seriously."**

"How ironic that he says unprovoked."

**"Unfortunately, The Reach only has this single ship. Designed for peaceful exploration and diplomacy, and unequipped with weapons."**

I rolled my eyes. My ankle would disagree.

**"Nevertheless, we pledge solidarity with the people of earth. The Reach, will not abandon you!"**

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"Claire? How did you-" Needless to say, I was surprised. My best friend had somehow gotten my new number.

"Felicity... I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't have called... but I need you..."

"What happened?"

"Jaime... he... he..." Her voice began to shake. The hell did this guy do...

"He what? What happened?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Friday there will be two new chapters.  
Hope you enjoyed.  
Have a good day/night.


	20. Mistakes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to try to get the next chapter out today.  
I completely forgot to write it... whoops... anyway it'll probably (maybe) be out tonight.  
Thanks and sorry!!

Every social media platform was filled with panic. People saying that the world was going to end, others saying that we were being invaded, even though we already had been by the Reach, there were others that said that it was the Reach's fault that a weird alien satellite thing was moving in our direction.

On TV, Cat Grant continued to try to explain, everything that was happening while trying to keep a straight face even though she was obviously just as frightened as us.

Heck! Even G. Gordon Godfrey seemed to have trouble keeping a straight face every time he popped up on TV, talking about the alien satellite. And that's saying a lot when it comes to G. Gordon at least.

Even with all this commotion, people still continued to point out that it was only getting closer and closer, which wasn't something that would cease anyone's panic.

A little while later, it had opened, revealing weapons... a lot of them.

The time that it took for that thing to open, was the time it took for Doctor Fate to appear, followed by the other Heroes.

It quickly became evident that the second moon, satellite thing truly was an alien ship. It was currently shooting missiles at earth after having its failed attempt at shooting what we could only assume was a laser with enough capacity to completely obliterate us.

Cat Grant reappeared on the screen of our TV, advising everyone over and over again to stay indoors, giving us feedback about what was happening, and seemingly... losing hope. It was becoming obvious that her hope was fading, and fading fast.

**"Earths military leaders are mobilizing all national air defences against the assault from the rouge satellite."**

The tension in the air wasn't letting up if they didn't find a way to stop that ship soon... we could all perish.

**"Here in the US, homeland security is urging citizens to remain calm and stay in your homes, rather than attempt evacuation."**

Her face fell once more while her attention shifted to the camera.

**"There's nowhere for us to go..."**

That one hit hard. Humanities hope was depleting faster than I thought possible. The Heroes had to find a way to mobilize that ship, and they had to do it fast.

The Heroes and the Military were being able to stop most of the missiles but not all of them.

"Sumimasen!"

"Asami? What's wrong?" She was furiously pointing outside, at the sky. I quickly looked to where she was pointing and froze. "Guys... we have a problem."

"What kind of problem?"

"A missile headed straight toward us kind of problem."

"What?!" The boys quickly ran towards the window, and they seemed to pale. "How do we stop that thing?!"

"Doesn't look like we'll have too."

"What do you-"

"Look." We followed Tye's gaze and saw Gravitation atop a building with her hands out in front of her.

Before the missile could cause any damage, she shot her hands above her head. It followed in suite, shooting up into the sky and blowing up midway.

Sighs of relief slowly flooded our apartment as we seemed to slowly melt onto the floor. "Didn't think I'd be this scared."

No one answered as we watched Gravitation float away, taking off into the sky. Probably going to help the others in space.

Everyone slowly made their way back to the TV and just fell onto the couches. This was being too much for us, and that's saying something.

The news about the events going on in space with the Heroes and the Military continued. Telling us how they had been able to neutralize most of the missiles threatening to kill us all. That made us both happy and anxious. They had only been able to neutralize most of them... not all of them...

The news continued and continued until something caught our attention. We stood there bewildered at what we saw on TV. Hundreds of Reach ships were rising from the water and going towards the alien ship. Most blowing up in the process. Thank God.

"Don't those look like-"

"Reach ships."

"They're helping to save earth?"

"Probably don't want to spoil their _meat_."

Awhile after the Reach showed to the world that they were good for nothing liars and shouldn't be trusted, the alien ship had ceased its attacks. It seemed almost suspended mid-attack.

After the chaos had died down for good, the Heroes and the remaining Reach ships made their way back to earth. Cat Grant, made one last appearance on TV looking relived as ever, saying that the threat had been neutralized before turning in.

Everything was fine again... well sort of. The Reach has now been found out, and hopefully, that meant that they would be kicked off of Earth for good. Hopefully, their lies would be recognized, and they wouldn't be trusted any more. And hopefully, nothing else would go wrong today.

Of course, you think such things and you receive the opposite. My phone rang, startling all of us. The moment I saw the number I immediately recognized it. Claire. I answered. My first stupid mistake.

"Felicity?"

"Claire? How did you-" Needless to say, I was surprised. My best friend had somehow gotten my new number.

"Felicity... I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't have called... but I need you..."

"What happened?"

"Jaime... he... he..." Her voice began to shake. The hell did this guy do...

"He what? What happened?"

"He's after me... please, I need your help..." Her sobs slowly increased but she still tried to whisper. "I don't know what to do..."

"I... I..." How do I even answer? We had just been attacked by aliens, almost met our doom and I'm still in shock from that. And now my best friend was in trouble, she somehow had my number, and was running away from her boyfriend who was with the enemy. I couldn't help but sigh before asking the most dreaded question. My second mistake. "Where are you?"

"I-I didn't know... I'm in some sort of... docks... I don't know what to do... I... I can't... go back home... and... and... and..."

"It's ok! It's ok... I'll find you. Ok?"

"Please."

"Just relax and stay hidden-" The call suddenly cut off being replaced by a long beep sound. "Claire? Claire!?!" No answer. "Shit!"

"Felicity what's wro-"

"I gotta go."

"Hey, wait a minute-"

Too late, I was already out the door as I rushed out... alone. My third mistake. My feet hurriedly skipped every step down the stairs, making me almost face plant quite a few times. I know I shouldn't just run off like that, but I needed to go and fast. No time to explain.

Once out of the building, I don't stop running. I didn't have a plan, I was unprepared and clueless to everything going on around me. I was letting myself do things on impulse. The only things I thought through, were that I wouldn't take the others straight to the Reach's filthy claws, I wouldn't make Tye fight his best friend, and I needed help to find Claire... and I knew just the person.

And this was the moment my regret started to set in as a feeling in my gut told me to turn back. I didn't do as told. My fourth mistake.

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"What the- What are you doing here, chica?"

"I need your help."

"You've been gone for two months, where have you-"

"No time, we need to find Claire."

"Why? What's wrong with mi hermana?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> News chapters are published every Friday.  
Hope you enjoyed.  
Have a good day and/or night!


	21. Friendship

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, this’ll have to be put in a third chapter, god damn.   
The next chap will come out tomorrow, sorry for the inconvenience!!

_'I gotta be crazy...' _My idea of whom to ask for help, still hadn't changed. I knew exactly who to ask, she had the capabilities to help me find Claire... the problem would be explaining everything.

A while after running I found myself in a small street with houses all stacked next to each other... a very familiar place. I ran past the houses until I saw the one I was looking for. Running up the small stairs I knocked in the door. And knocked. And knocked. _'Come on! She's gotta be here!' _Not even two seconds later and the door shot open.

A young woman stood in the doorway. Left-hand holding the door open while the right hand held a baseball bat. "What!?" Her blond hair was a mess, shooting up in every side. She had her eyes half-closed and was lightly sawing from side to side. _'Of course, she was sleeping...'_

"I need your help."

"What the- What are you doing here, chica?"

"I need your help."

"You've been gone for two months, where have you-"

"No time, we need to find Claire."

"Why? What's wrong with mi hermana?"

"... I'll tell you on the way." I was already turning away when she grabbed my shoulder.

"On the way? On the way to where?!" I stopped. That was a good question... I still didn't know where to look._ 'She had said something about docks...'_

"She said that she was in some kind of docks..."

"I'm sorry docks? Doesn't mi hermana live in El Paso or am I missing something?" I bit my lip slightly and shook my head.

"I... I don't know how she got there... but we gotta find her." She raised a brow before closing her eyes and letting out a sigh.

"Ok, chica- " She got cut off by her phone ringing. Digging her hand into one of her pockets she grabbed her phone and looked at it. "I know where she is." I stared.

"What?" She retreated back into her house and closed the door. She came back out, not even a minute later with some weird clothes, car keys and her baseball bat.

"Let's go." She walked over to a rundown Jeep._ 'Since when does she own one of those?'_ "Get in the car."

I did as told and sat on the passenger's seat. She swiftly got in and started the engine. That's when it hit me. "Uh... Mariana..."

"Yeah?"

"Do you... do you know how to... to drive?"

"Of course, I do!" Oh, no... time to buckle up and hope for the best. The moment the car started I watched my life flash before my eyes. I'm gonna die. In less than two seconds she was already driving at an incredibly dangerous speed and had somehow managed to make the car jump... twenty times.

"Shouldn't you drive just a tad bit more carefully?!"

"What do you mean?! This is careful!"

"Not really!" I didn't have time to say anything else. Mariana grabbed something from one of her pockets and put it on her ear before talking.

"Hey, dude what's up?" She stayed silent for a moment as a small buzzing sound left the earpiece in her ear. "I'm fine." Silence again. "You sure it's the right way? Why I ask? Cause I know you! And this is important." She stopped for a second and sighed. "I'll be fine... I got backup." I turned my head to the side and looked out the window. "I'm not going back hermano. Yeah... yeah... I'll tell you how it goes. Yeah, adios."

She brought her hand back up to the earpiece and clicked on it. "Friend of yours?"

"How'd you guess, kid?" I shrugged. "Ok, start talking. What happened to mi hermana? These past two months included."

"You won't believe me..."

"I've got a gun over here, I'd advise you to start talking, kid!"

I let out a sigh, time to come clean. "You know how I've been gone for two months?"

"Duh!"

"Well, the night I disappeared, Maria called me saying that-"

"That she was in America, yeah, I know. Claire called me so that I'd take her to the airport. You kids, seriously gotta get better timing! I was trying to sleep."

"Yeah, well, I was going to meet them there but... I kinda got... uh... kidnapped?" That wasn't supposed to come out as a question.

"I'm sorry, did you say kidnapped?"

"Yeah..."

"By who?!"

"The Reach..." The car came to a sudden stop making me almost fly out the window. Mariana stared out the window with a pissed off expression before muttering something and continuing on.

"Continue."

"They kept me and some others for a month." I saw her nod, saying continue again. "And I kinda got powers now..."

"What kind?"

"I can repel stuff."

"Cool. Now, what about the other month?"

"We were saved by some heroes and taken to Star. We escaped Star a week ago."

"We?"

"Me and some others..."

"Ok... so now what? You think they're after Claire?"

"Star? No. The Reach? Yeah..." I sighed again. Oh, I would so regret this later. "You know Jaime?"

"Claire's boyfriend? Yeah, what about him?"

"He's with the Reach." Her eyes widened slightly before narrowing.

"I knew I never liked that guy."

"I think he's being controlled... but that doesn't matter right now since he's trying to get Claire."

"Kid, you better hold on to something. Real tightly."

"Wait, why-" The car suddenly got faster and I almost became part of the seat. My hands shot up to my chest as my eyes closed.

In a matter of minutes, we arrived at our destination. The docks. Which? I got no idea. Mariana kicked her door open and grabbed the bat. I followed, but instead of kicking the door, I opened it. My legs felt like jello which made it somewhat difficult to walk.

"Alright, chica listen up." I looked at her. "We're gonna split up." I nodded. "You go that way and I go this way." She pointed behind me before pouting behind herself. "If you find her call me."

"But I don't-" A paper was shoved into my face, cutting me off.

"Now you do. So call me if you find her." Immediately turning her back to me she was about to bolt off.

"What if you find her? You don't have my number."

"We'll find you."

"But-"

"Just trust me, K?" I reluctantly nodded. She was about to walk away but stopped and turned back to me. "If anything happens, aim this at the sky and fire."

"What is-"

"Smoke signal. Be careful." And she was gone.

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"Claire!" I wanted to run to her but my body felt heavy, incapacitating my movements.

"You meat bags truly are a handful." I helplessly watched as Black Beetle walked over to Claire and picked her up.

"No... Claire..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapters every Friday, though there may be exceptions.  
Hope you enjoyed and have a good day/night.


	22. Betrayal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for the delay!! My brain became mush while writing this.  
I spent the ENTIRE day writing this.

I've looked behind a giant crate... nothing. _'This is the twentieth one!' _My efforts to find Claire, were coming out in vain. Every time I heard any kind of noise I'd go after it, in hopes that the creator of the noise was Claire. It wasn't. Just a cat, rats and the wind.

I'll be honest, looking in the docks at the middle of the night for a person, wasn't and isn't the easiest thing ever. Especially, when her evil boyfriend could be lurking around, preparing to blast me into oblivion.

I could feel my anxiety levels slowly rising as my mind thought every worst possible case scenario of what could have and might happen to me or Claire. It didn't help that it was night and the lights around here were extraordinarily dim, and I wasn't a fan of the darkness. Especially, when I'm in an unfamiliar place and setting.

I've always lived close to Claire in El Paso, so docks weren't exactly an everyday kind of thing. The only time Claire and I went to any docks was five years ago when all the grown-ups disappeared. Of course, we were accompanied by Mariana who had to call her friends Megan, Connor and Wally to help out with the blown-up tiers of her parents' car. They got there really fast. How? When we were miles away from them? Don't know, never cared to ask.

Anyway, back to the matter at hand. All the consequences of today's events were finally catching up to me. My legs were hurting from all the running I had done, and because of Mariana's not so safe driving. My brain was getting all fuzzy thanks to all the information that was trying to sink in at once. My body felt like disagreeing with me and going in directions I didn't want. All in all, I felt exhausted and scared.

I wanted to stop... I wanted to rest... I wanted to go home... I wanted to see Maria and Claire safe... I wanted to see my nonna again, to hug her and reassure her that I was fine... I wanted to go back in time and just ask the others for help instead of running off... I wanted to just wake up in my bed and see that this was just some weird, bizarre and scary dream.

Unfortunately, things are never that easy. The sound of a metal can hitting the ground made me shift my attention to the side. I stopped dead in my tracks. Someone was hidden in the shadow, or at least, trying to hide. 

"Felicity?" _'That voice...' _The person slowly moved forward, moving to stand in front of one of the many dim lights.

"Claire!" A wave of relief washed over me as my concern slowly dissipated. She ran over to me and hugged me. I, of course, did the same. "You're ok!"

"I'm fine... are you ok?"

"I'm perfect." We let go and I grabbed my phone and the paper Mariana had given me, out of my pocket. "We have to go." She said nothing as I dialled the number and called. It rang once. Twice. Tree times. Nothing. "Crap!"

"What's wrong?"

"She won't pick up..."

"She who? One of your friends?"

"No. Well, yes. I was trying to call-"

"Found you."

You know that moment when you hear something being said really creepily and it makes your neck hairs stand on end and makes you shiver uncontrollably? Yeah, I'm going through that.

Both Claire and I turned to look up, spotting something floating above one of the crates. No, wait, not something. Someone. Blue Beetle to be exact. _'Shit.'_

Neither of us had any time to process anything thanks to Blue attacking us. One of his arms turned into some kind of sonic cannon. Virgil had mentioned that Blue used it when he was fighting Volcano, and it was the reason as to why the building had been collapsing around us.

Blue used the cannon on us, hitting us with a sonic wave. We were both knocked back harshly onto the ground, skidding back a few times. But even with having successfully gotten us down he didn't stop there. His arms turned into something different and a weird blue thing shot out of them.

They were coming in fast, leaving almost no room to even breath. Suddenly, I felt energy wrap around me before shooting out, which threw Claire back but did nothing to the thing that was still headed in my direction. Time to prepare for impact. "Felicity!"

Something appeared next to me and grabbed me. I watched in shock as a golden light engulfed both me and the other person, and as my surroundings changed. The light dissipated followed by the sound of metal hitting the ground causing me to look over to the spot where I had previously been.

Blue's attack hadn't been stopped, so much so, that it hit that ground with such a force that it stayed stuck.

"Are you alright?" I was snapped back into reality long enough to feel the pain that had spread through my side. I grunted a small yes but didn't look at the person. "Be more careful next time..." I turned my head to the person and smiled lightly.

"Aye, aye captain." Ed only rolled his eyes.

"Guys!" We turned to face the source of the voice. Virgil, Tye and Sam were all running in our direction, completely ignoring Blue Beetle's existence and the fact that he had his cannons aimed at us.

They helped us up and Tye flicked my forehead. "Ow! Dude!"

"Don't run off like that. Ever." His voice was calm but laced with anger and worry.

I smiled lightly. "No promises." He flicked me again. "Ow! Stop that!" He rolled his eyes and looked passed me. I followed his gaze. My eyes landed on Claire who was being helped up by Virgil. Worry washed over me once more. "Claire!" I rushed over to her and made sure she was alright.

"I'm fine. Don't worry."

"You sure?"

"Perfectly." I sighed.

"Ok." A cough made us turn towards the others. "Oh, yeah... uh, guys... this is Claire. Claire these are Asami, Eduardo, Virgil and Tye." She did a small wave.

"I hate to cut these introductions short, but we have a problem." Ed was right. Blue Beetle still had his weapons aimed at us.

"You done with the sentimentality?"

I moved to stand in front of Claire. "More than you know." And so, the fight began. It wasn't hard to evade his attacks, for the most part.

It was five against one, so to us, our odds of winning were good. That is until Black Beetle showed up. That's when thing started going somewhat downhill.

We weren't exactly loosing, more like... being knocked down to the ground... hard. Sam, had been able to knock them back a couple of times thanks to her chi manipulation, but was, unfortunately, rendered unconscious.

Virgil, would use his powers to throw crates and other metallic objects at them and also protect us from any metallic objects that might be thrown at us. He was able to avoid some of the attacks in the beginning, but just like Sam, was out cold after a while.

Tye, stayed fighting Blue even after Black Beetle arrived. He would usually grab some crates and throw them or grab Blue and squeeze him. The first time he did that, I laughed. Unfortunately, though, he too was knocked out. Trying to not get hit by attacks when you're a giant and very visible Astro Form isn't exactly an easy task.

Ed was the one who easily avoided their attacks. The boy can teleport for God's sake. He wasn't exactly the definition of strong, so grabbing something heavy was out of the question, but throwing things to distract them was easy.

I spent the entire time close to Claire. Not close enough that any danger could come to her, but close enough to make sure she was alright. My powers had decided to work which made repealing some of their attacks sort of easy.

After a while, it seemed like the Beetles were getting irritated with the fact that Ed and I weren't going down. We were close, but we still hadn't. It was actually becoming quite evident by our expressions, that we were getting tired and wouldn't hold up much longer.

I noticed that their hands were turning into sonic cannons again and instantly understood that they were going to use them against us. The next thing I did, I regret. I dug one of my hands into my hoodie pocket and took out the smoke signal. Just before they used their cannons on us, I aimed it at the air and pulled the trigger. Yes, it looked like a gun.

Soon after that, I felt myself being thrown backwards. Ed joined me not even a second later. The intensity of the sonic waves that were hitting us was so big that neither of us could concentrate long enough to try to escape.

Unbeknown to me, Mariana seemed to just casually materialize behind both Beetles. Bat at the ready. "That's mi hermana's best friend. So, piece of advice... leave."

Before she had the chance to do anything she started to float before being shaken like a rag doll and being drops next to us.

The sonic waves stopped, and we were released... sort of. I looked to the side and noticed that Ed was unconscious. And I would soon join him. Mariana was quick to get back up.

"Never thought my own hermana would turn against me." I looked up and froze. Claire was next to Blue and Black Beetle. Arms crossed and chin up with an unreadable expression on her face.

"C-Claire." My body felt week but I could still move. Forcing myself up, I took a step forward. "Why?"

"Ah, the meat bag won't talk. You know, no free will."

I stopped and looked at Black Beetle. I wanted to blast this guy so far into space he'd never come back. But even walking was hard, let alone using my powers.

"I wouldn't be all happy just yet."

"What do you-" Blue didn't have time to finish thanks to something exploding next to his feet causing him to fall.

"Don't you know that it's cowardly to attack someone who's already down?" I tried to locate the voice but saw no one else other than us. "Especially, when it's my cousin."

Another explosion went off, this time though on Black Beetle. He was knocked into Claire.

They didn't take long to get back up and have Claire attack Mariana. Hand-to-hand this time. Mariana, of course, was quick to get the upper hand and hit Claire in the back of the neck. Knocking her out in the process.

As soon as Claire hit the ground the Beetles used their cannons on us again. Mariana and I were thrown back once more. Her against a crate and me against the floor.

They were about to walk over to us but were stopped by the same voice from before. "Ah, ah, ah! What part of cowardly don't you understand?" No answer. "You won't be able to touch them. So there's no point in trying." They ignored her. "Well, guess I have no choice." They got zapped. "Leave."

"Maybe we should listen."

I heard Black Beetle growl. "Alright, let's go." He turned his back to me and Mariana and turned to Claire.

"Claire!" I wanted to run to her but my body felt heavy, incapacitating my movements.

"You meat bags truly are a handful." I helplessly watched as Black Beetle walked over to Claire and picked her up.

"No... Claire..."

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I felt terrible. I managed to get Tye to fight his best friend, get the others hurt, make Mariana fight Claire, and let Claire be taken by the Reach. I failed in every aspect possible. And to top it all off... my best friend was with the Reach.

"Hey, kid... it's not your fault."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapters will be published every Friday.  
Hope you enjoyed.  
Have a good day/night.


	23. Faults

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A new chapter will published later today.

  
_I stood next to Mariana as Claire and the Beetles got back onto their feet. Once back on his feet, Black Beetle only smirked and looked us straight in the eyes. "Wouldn't it be more fun if you had to fight your... friend?" Though his voice was scary, the distaste he felt for the word friend, didn't go unnoticed._

_Not even a second later, Claire charged at Mariana, beginning their hand-to-hand combat._

_It didn't take long for Mariana to get the upper hand and outmatch Claire. She hit her in the back of the neck causing Claire to fall on the floor, due to having been rendered unconscious._

_As soon as she hit the ground, both Beetles decided to use their sonic cannons on us, throwing us both back._

_My back hit the ground harshly and I struggled to turn onto my stomach. I wanted to get up, I needed to get up, but I couldn't..._

_My attention shifted to Mariana who was, by what I could see, unconscious. Her back was resting on a crate with a dent on it, presumably created from the force of her body slamming into it. Her head was down and her hair was messily out of its ponytail and falling on her face._

_The sound of metal drew me out of my moment of skepticism and made me look forward. The Beetles were about to move toward us. 'No... no...'_

_"Ah, ah, ah! What part of cowardly don't you understand?" They stopped, looked around but didn't answer. "You won't be able to touch them. So there's no point in trying." They ignored her warning. "Well, guess I have no choice." Suddenly a zapping sound was heard followed by angry and pained grunts. "Leave."_

_Blue was the first one to give in. "Maybe we should listen."_

_I heard Black Beetle growl. "Alright, let's go." He turned away from me and Mariana, and towards Claire._

_"Claire!" I wanted to run to her but my body felt heavy, incapacitating my movements._

_"You meat bags truly are a handful." I helplessly watched as Black Beetle walked over to Claire and picked her up._

_"No... Claire..."_

__________________________________________________________________

I felt my body sway lightly from side to side before resting against something soft and warm. With a bit of struggle, I got my eyes open and took in my surroundings. I was in a car, a big car.

Squinting my eyes I tried to adjust to the surrounding darkness, the only illumination that was given was the street lights that we'd pass from time to time. I looked at the driver's seat. Mariana. _'Never thought she'd drive so softly...'_

My eyes began to grow heavy again and my body was begging to go back into slumber. _'Sleep sounds great... but I don't want to remember everything...' _But, it seems, that even against my best wishes, my body and my brain want what they want. And, so I fell back into a peaceful slumber... for the meantime.

__________________________________________________________________

_Darkness_ _. _ _I was once again surrounded by darkness. Oh, goody. This is all I ever wanted. Please take note of the sarcasm. 'Where am I, this time?'_

_"Somewhere... and nowhere." A yelp ran past my lips as I swirled around. No one. You've got to be kidding me. The voice of a man rang around me as he laughed lightly. "Sorry, for scaring you." I looked around but continued not seeing anyone._

_"Who are you? Where are you?"_

_"I cannot answer either question. Apologies."_

_"Why can't I see you?"_

_"It's not the right time." Subconsciously my eyes narrowed. I knew this voice. I distinctly remembered hearing it before._

_"When will it be the right time?"_

_"Soon." Before I got the change to ask another question something surrounded by flames was seen in the distance, heading in my direction. 'Oh, crap.' Before it got close enough for me to repel it or for it to cause damage, the darkness around me began to grow brighter and brighter. Instinctively I shielded my eyes._

__________________________________________________________________

The moment my eyes opened I was blinded by strong lighting. Again. A grunt escaped my lips as I shut my eyes again before reopening them and trying to adjust to the light. "Hey, kid... how you doing?"

My head turned to follow the voice. Once my eyes had completely adjusted I saw Mariana sitting next to me. "You look terrible."

"You don't look much better yourself, kid." I smiled. "So, how you feeling?"

"I'm feeling... ok." She sighed.

"Want anything?"

"Other than to get up and go pee? Not really." She stifled a laugh.

"Let me help you up." Getting up, to say the least, was somewhat painful. My body wasn't used to being thrown around like a sad pillow or to fighting for that matter. Everything felt heavy and strained.

Walking was easier though, so that's a plus. Didn't take me long to find out that Mariana had taken us to her house, luckily I knew my way around. I did my business and went back to the room she had let me and Sam rest in. No, the others were still not awake. They were too exhausted, and in pure honesty... so was I.

"Did as you needed?" I nodded. I moved towards the bed and sat down. "I'm sorry about what happened." My body stiffened. What happened... as in everything that took place tonight.

"I'm the one who should be sorry. I forced you to come with me... I made you fight your own sister... I... I... I'm sorry... it's all my fault..." it was true, everything was my fault and I felt terrible. I managed to get Tye to fight his best friend, get the others hurt, make Mariana fight Claire, and let Claire be taken by the Reach. I failed in every aspect possible. And to top it all off... my best friend was with the Reach.

"Hey, kid... it's not your fault." She placed a hand on my shoulder. "It's really not..."

"But if I hadn't-"

"Shut it." I stopped and slowly shut my mouth. "You're not the one who turned mi hermana against us, the Reach was. You didn't force me to go, I agreed to go. I **took** us there. I'm just sorry that... this happened to you..." I looked at her.

"But... but what about you?"

She let out a sore and dry laugh. "I've been through betrayal before, kid. It may have been a few years back, but it happened... and the person who did it, didn't even know they were doing it." I watched as her eyes started to gloss over and fill with tears. "Claire didn't do that on purpose, you know that."

I nodded. "Yeah..."

"Look, when I knocked her out... there was something in the back of her neck. It's called a control chip." I nodded. "And like the name in-tales, it controls people... if connected to them." She rubbed her hands on her eyes to wipe away the tears before they could spill.

"Mariana..."

She took my hands to silence me. "We're getting my sister back. Got it?" I nodded. "We'll get her back... we just have to try."

Letting go of my hands she moved to stand up. "Where are-"

"I'm going to make a phone call... I did it a few hours ago, but the idiot didn't answer." She walked to the door. "Get some rest, kid. God knows you need it." Opening the door she stepped out and started to close it but stopped. "And again, none of this is your fault." And with that, it was lights out and door closed.

I stared at the door for a few extra minutes before deciding to follow her advice and get some rest. I laid my head on the pillow and pulled the covers over me. I shut my eyes and fell asleep with only one thought in my head. _'I'm sorry...' _The guilt wouldn't leave any time soon.

____________________________________________________________________

"Wally? Why are you the one-" The female stopped and listened before answering. "Fine, then tell _Mister Commando_ that he's got a mole on his team. How do I know? I'll explain better later, right now just tell him what I told you and for him to call me. Yeah... yeah... I miss you guys too... yeah... bye."

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The moment Blue Beetle stepped in front of the camera was the moment that I almost choked on my water.

"Is... is that who I think it is?"

Tye was the one to answer. "Looks like it." His voice was strained and pissed. He probably forced himself to answer.

"Uh... guys don't look now but..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapters are published every Friday.  
Have a good day/night.  
Hope you enjoyed.


	24. TV News

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel very proud right now!

When we all woke up the next day, we had just as much energy as the day before. None.

Sam and I were the first ones to get up and out of the room. When Asami woke up she seemed startled, which was understandable. The last thing she remembered was being knocked out in a fight with Aliens. Not to mention, that she was in an unknown place with an unknown woman. She would have probably blasted Mariana if I hadn't been so calm.

Since we were the first to rise from the grave, Mariana thought it would be a good idea if we helped her wake the boys. You know so that none of them thinks they've been kidnapped and do something stupid.

The first one that we woke was Ed. Can't say I enjoyed that. I had forgotten that the kid wasn't exactly what we'd call... a morning person. His first instinct was to grab whatever was on the bedside table and throw it at us. It was a lamp... that was all that stood atop the bedside table. A lamp. Lucky, Sam was quick to shut the door. Unfortunately, Mariana lost a valuable lamp. The worst part wasn't the broken lamp, but the kid's mood after he walked out of the room. Yikes.

Next up was Virgil. That guy is like a big, soft and fluffy teddy bear. He wakes up instantly and acts like a little kid while rubbing his eyes and looking at you. Safe to say that all of us were squealing. Sam and I never had to wake Virgil since he was normally the first one up. You know, to be the mom of the group and make us breakfast... or try to at least.

Last but not least was Tye. Oh, God bless us all. His mood was terrible. Note to self: Never wake Tye up after a battle. His reaction wasn't exactly bad, but it wasn't exactly good either. Getting him up was the easy part, he's not exactly a heavy sleeper. The problem was dealing with the dark aura that surrounded him. As soon as we saw his mood, Mariana and I pushed Sam into the room and closed the door behind her. She can get him in a good mood, believe me, I know.

Mariana forced us to have lunch since we were still young and growing into our full selves. "Eat and then I'll take you to where ever it is you kids live."

"You don't need to take us."

"I don't care if it's daytime kid. You're not going alone."

"But-"

"No buts. Eat."

We, of course, did as we were told. Fighting Mariana wasn't a good idea, and by the way, convincing the others was hard work. Sam and Virgil were easy. Sam's understanding of English wasn't the best but all the time we spent with the dictionaries paid off. Plus, it was free food.

Virgil was quick to ask if Mariana was sure since he didn't want to bother her. After her confirmation, he thanked her and started eating.

Tye and Ed were a different story. Tye didn't trust Mariana and kept giving her skeptical looks. His current mood didn't help the situation, if anything, it only made convincing him even harder. We were able to convince him after a while and get him to eat and just relax for a bit.

Then there was Eduardo. Oh, blissful God, was that kid hard. He was still grumpy from his _rude awakening_ as he called it. Convincing him was almost as hard as convincing Tye. Tye and Ed weren't exactly quick to trust grown-ups which was understandable after everything they've been through. Sam was probably the same way, but she followed our lead since understanding was still hard for her. After a while, we got thought to Ed, but his scowl wasn't letting up.

During our little lunch, Mariana explained what happened after the others were knocked out and the reason as to why she was there. Tye spent the whole time muttering _you should have just asked for help_ under his breath over and over, which ticked me off a little bit, but I did understand where he was coming from. I ran out on them without an explanation or even asking for help.

After lunch, Mariana took us back to the apartment. Well, close to the apartment. Tye still didn't trust Mariana enough to let her know exactly where we were staying. She didn't say anything against it and even said that she'd do the same in his place.

We were dropped off far enough from our apartment that it wouldn't be very obvious that we lived there, but still close enough so that we didn't have to walk much.

As we made our way to the apartment I thought it might finally be the right time to ask the one question that's been bugging me since the appearance of the others when Blue Beetle attacked us.

"How did you guys find me?" Everyone came to halt.

"What?"

"Yesterday... How did you guys find me?"

"We... we had help."

"Who?"

Virgil sighed and answered. "Luthor." The answer didn't come as much of a surprise but I would have preferred if asking Lex Luthor could have been avoided. I still didn't trust the guy. I sighed and nodded. Saying nothing else we continued on our way.

Once back in our _house_ the others dropped on the sofas while I went to grab a bottle of water from the kitchen, I grabbed it, went to one of the sofas, and sat down next to the others. They had turned on the TV but it was without sound, so I didn't pay much attention.

I brought the bottle to my lips and started drinking. I heard a gasp next to me making me look at the TV. Why? No idea. The Reach was on TV and that wasn't all.

The moment Blue Beetle stepped in front of the camera was the moment that I almost choked on my water.

"Is... is that who I think it is?"

Tye was the one to answer. "Looks like it." His voice was strained and pissed. He probably forced himself to answer.

"Uh... guys don't look now but..." The next person to step forward was Gravitation. The hell?

I looked at Virgil. "Put sound!" He turned up the sound, but we had already missed the whole thing. "Is it possible to rewind?"

"Don't know, but I can try." It worked. The program allowed us to rewind the Reach's speech. Sort of.

**"And in my role as the Reach's ambassador to your world, I want to take this opportunity to thank these great heroes. Two heroes that almost single handedly saved the planet Earth from the War World."**

We all looked at each other. He was congratulating heroes? Him congratulating Blue Beetle was already foreseen since he's with the Reach, but Gravitation? Then again we didn't actually see all of it.

**"They saved your life's, They saved our lives. Ladies and gentlemen** **,** ** I give you... Blue Beetle!"**

Blue moved to stand in front of the camera with a smile. I huffed. Fake.

**"And Gravitation!"**

Now, this was the surprising part. She had been against the Reach when I first met her, so why was she with them now?

**"Thank you. Thank you all."**

Both heroes shared a smile and waved.

"**But it is us who should express gratitude to you, ambassador, for giving two normal, average humans being like us... the power of the Reach, the power to save the world."**

Blue Beetles armour left his face, revealing his true identity. Jaime Reyes. Gravitation followed his lead and took off her mask. I froze. "It can't be." The girl who stood tall next to Blue Beetle... next to the Reach... was Claire... one of my friends.

____________________________________________________________________

"You seeing the same thing I'm seeing?"

"Yeah, this place may stink but it still has a TV... I'm sorry."

"It's fine... you already knew this would happen, didn't you?"

"Yes, sorry again."

"It's fine... I asked you not to tell me."

"You'll get her back."

"I know... and Felicity? What do you see?"

"All in due time as granny would say."

"Alright." The female removes the phone from her ear and ended the call. "Guess I'm going back..."

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** _ Next Chapter Preview: _ **

"Was it fun?"

"W-What?"

"Being betrayed. Was it fun?" He let out a wicked laugh.

"You'll pay for everything you guys have done to us!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two new chapters are published every Friday, though there can be exceptions.  
Hope you enjoyed and have a good day/night.


	25. Thoughts

  
The rest of the day was spent staring aimlessly at the sky while thinking about everything that's happened so far. The news that came on TV a few hours earlier, continued on for the rest of the day. The Reach was on almost every channel, and on almost every channel you could see Blue Beetle and Gravitation revealing their true identities as Jaime Reyes and Claire Miranda.

I probably looked dumb and maybe even pathetic as I stared blankly at the sky during the whole day, but I didn't care. Everything was still fresh. It hurt... quite honestly, it did... now I know what it feels like to have one of the most important people in your life betray you... I... I don't like this feeling...

Who would have thought that leaving the house at three in the morning to meet up with your Portuguese friend who was supposed to arrive in your country two weeks later, but decided to depart earlier and _surprise_ you, would end in: kidnapping, powers, an alien invasion and just about every type of betrayal? Not me, that's for sure. I would have never thought of that... never in my wildest dreams.

I still wanted to wake up, to realize that this was nothing but a weird nightmare that only lasted seven hours but felt like two months. I wanted to open my eyes and run down the stairs only to be met with the sweet smell of my nonna's cooking. I wanted to know that this was a dream and that the moment my eyes open and I walk out my front door, Claire would be there waiting with a smug look on her face telling me how late I was for school. I wanted to wake up to the sound of my phone ringing in the middle of the night because Maria needed to vent with someone about her troubles and worries while asking me how I was and apologizing for the time.

If there was a way to make everything go back to normal, a way to turn back the clock... I would do it... I just want everything to go back to how it was... just go back... I'd do it- No, wait... would I? Would I really do it?

This isn't the type of life I envisioned for myself, then again this wasn't my decision. I never would have decided this for myself, but even so, I'm not willing to give it all up. These last two months have been complete chaos, yes, absolutely, there's no way to deny it, but at the same time, they've given me something I'd been lacking... perspective... I've always had it, but never like this. If I hadn't been kidnapped and put through all this shit, I would have sided with the Reach and thought of Jaime and Claire's behaviour as totally normal. I've always been skeptical but never to the point that I am now.

I wanted everything to be normal again, of course, I did, that would never change. I missed my nonna's smile every time she'd dance to her favourite Italian song L'Italiano, every time it would come on the radio, even though I told her millions of times to buy the song as a CD, so she could hear it whenever she wanted... she always said no...

I miss mine and Maria's late-night talk where she'd tell me about computer systems, even though she knew that I understood nothing. I miss her calling me and asking for emotional-support... I didn't like to see her so unhappy, but she knew that I was always there... always ready to listen...

I miss Claire inviting me and my nonna to have dinner at her house. I miss appearing behind her when she least expected and giving her a fright... yeah, she'd chase me after that, but we always had a good laugh...

Funny... to some people this might be a very small group of people to miss and others might have more... but to me, these are the ones that most matter... the only people I really spent any time with were Claire and my nonna. Normally I'd hang with Claire and, occasionally, her younger brother. I'd see my nonna every day and I wasn't very keen on saying no to grandmother and granddaughter bonding time, so I'd usually divide my time between Claire and nonna. Maria lived in Portugal so unless I could swim from one side of the world to the other, that'd be impossible, though we did have video chats through Skype. Claire and nonna would usually be there too, so all of us would talk to her for hours. I would also babysit Sasha from time to time, but not often.

Of course, now I spend all my time with the _Runaways, _a nice nickname Virgil and I picked out for our little group. I guess that's another good thing that came from all this crap... having the world put me side by side with these guys.

Tye, Sam, Virgil and Ed are the biggest group of people I've ever _hanged_ with, not that I had a choice but I wasn't complaining. I guess that even if I hadn't gained perspective or became more skeptical, I still wouldn't trade this for anything. I don't want to lose these guys, they're like a second family.

Blinking a few times, I turned my head to the side to face my alarm clock. 02:37 AM. Damn... I've been staring at the room's ceiling for the last 3 hours just thinking...

The others had already gone to sleep a long time ago. I decided to go to bed as well, but ended up, quite obviously, not falling asleep.

The last decision of the day consisted of sleep, though that's normal. We needed more rest and even though we were actually quite well-rested physically, psychologically we were still exhausted. These weren't the kinds of things that teens should be subjected to on a daily basis, so some more rest would, hopefully, do us some good.

One thing we've all grown accustomed to is saying our goodnights every night and hearing each other's snoring. In the beginning, the snoring was quite bothersome but you end up getting used to it... eventually.

A smile sneaked it's way onto my lips as I heard Sam's soft snoring and sleep finally overtook me.

__________________________________________________________________

_My eyes fluttered open and I looked around. 'Where am I?' I was in some sort of ship with what looked like weird pods that went from the ceiling to the ground. _

_My body suddenly started to move and a grunt escaped my lips. My head moved to look up, but all I saw was Black Beetle looking down at me. 'What... what's happening?!'_

_"Was it fun?" 'What? What is he talking about-'_

_"W-What?" I wasn't in control of my body... I didn't tell myself to talk..._

_"Being betrayed. Was it fun?" He let out a wicked laugh._

_"You'll pay for everything you guys have done to us!" Anger. That's the only thing that you could identify in my voice. I, again, didn't command my mouth to open and let the words fly out. _

_"Of course, I will. Meat bag." My eyes narrowed but before I got the chance to do anything, Black Beetle was thrown to the side. _

__________________________________________________________________

I woke up startled but quickly relaxed when I noticed the familiar surroundings.

"Felicity? Are ok?"

"Yeah, yeah... I'm alright, Asami. I'm ok." I must have woken her up accidentally. She said nothing else and went back to sleep. I sighed lightly. _'Next time you wake up, be quiet.' _And with that, sleep took a hold of me once again.

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"Misión suicida..."

"Kamikaze."

"Missione suicida." As soon as these words had been said we all looked at each other. "Did we just say pretty much the same thing but in our native languages?" They nodded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A new chapter will be published later today.  
New chapters every Friday.  
Have a good day/night.  
Hope you enjoyed.


	26. First Mission...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for this chapter, I know that it probably sucks.  
I can't promise anything for the next chapters, but I'll be doing my best!!  
Hope you enjoy.

A crashing sound followed by the sound of pieces scattering interrupted the calm silence. _'And that makes ten, so far.' _Sam and I had been working together to destroy as many Reach signs as we could. While she'd use her Chi Manipulation to pretty much make them break apart, I'd use my powers to repel them so hard onto the ground they'd break on contact. It was proving to be quite entertaining.

The others were doing the same as us, destroying, breaking or exploding anything and everything that had to do with the Reach, Blue Beetle or Gravitation. This, honestly, wasn't a hard job since the propaganda was **everywhere**. Be it on rooftops, in front of stores, on walls, in trucks filled with Reach beverage, or on water towers, it was everywhere.

We stopped wreaking our havoc and went to meet up with Ty, who had just thrown a water tower on the ground, breaking it without a second thought.

"Oh, nice one Tye! You are seriously getting a handle on your powers!" But even with the compliment, Tye didn't look pleased.

"Thanks, Virgil... But I'd rather get a handle on the scarab that turned my man Jaime into the Reach's little blue puppet."

I wanted to say the same for Claire but held back, I'd rather not actually talk about her for a while.

The sound of a ringing phone captivated our attention and Ed turned around to answer it. "I wonder if the Reach can appreciate the irony of their own creations working against them." I didn't even need to look at the phone to know who was speaking. Lex Freaking Luthor.

"Hey, they did not create us." Tye and I went to stand next to Ed as he spoke. "They kidnapped us."

"And experimented on us."

I chipped in. "Against our will."

"And with that in mind, if you truly want to hit the Reach were it hurts, I believe I can show you the way." I rolled my eyes.

"How?"

"This is better spoken of back at the apartment." He hung up and we all looked at each other.

"I can show you the way to your destinies, my children." The mockery didn't go unnoticed by the others since their immediate reaction was to laugh.

"C'mon we should at least see what he's got to say." Virgil looked at me making me groan, I nodded but said nothing.

We arrived back at the apartment about 10 minutes later. Virgil unlocked the door and we walked in, and to our surprise, there were things on our living room table. A computer that wasn't there before and a weird square thing.

"Welcome back." I screeched. "My apologies, I didn't mean to scare you."

"Course you didn't." And that's when I noticed... the guy was on the computer screen. You have got to be shitting me!

"Uh... Lex Luthor, sir what's that?"

"It's called a father box. It can open a boom tube or gateway, to the Warworld and back again. It has also been programmed to local Kryptonian DNA." _'Why's he _**_specifically_**_ telling us that? He doesn't plan on sending us after Superman... does he?' _

"Kryptonian? You mean, you're sending us after Superman?!" _'Not even going to question it.'_

"Su-per-boy, actually." _'There's a Superboy? You've gotta be kidding.' _"One of nine young heroes captured by the Reach." Nine pictures of heroes popped on the computer screen, luckily, incapacitating us from looking at Luthor. Thank you, God.

"Those guys saved us, from the Reach!"

"Dude, scream a little lower will ya?" This guy is gonna get me deaf.

"Precisely. Care to return the favour? And in the process, strike a critical blow the Reach?"

"Dude, you're asking us to go inside the Warworld and rescue superheroes. If they got caught what chance do we have?" Sometimes I feel like Tye is the only one amongst us with common sense.

"Misión suicida..."

"Kamikaze."

"Missione suicida." As soon as these words had been said we all looked at each other. "Did we just say pretty much the same thing but in our native languages?" They nodded.

"I'm in." My head shot up to look at Virgil wide-eyed. "There's no way the Reach expects us. With the element of surprise and our powers, we're the only ones who might actually stand a chance. Besides, we owe 'em."

I sighed loudly. "I hate it when your right! I'm in too."

"Fine."

"You had me at we owe 'em."

"Kid, you are aware that was the last thing he said... right?"

"Don't test me chica." My hands leaped up in defence. Let's not go against the kid's motives.

Sam broke the awkward moment by grabbing the father box and asking how it worked, to which Luthor was quick to answer.

"The Warworld's shielding prevents father box from pinpointing Superboy's exact location from Earth, but it can boom tube you within a few miles of it. Once you're inside, it will lead you directly to Superboy and the others. Then when you are ready it can bring you **all** home." My eyes narrowed slightly. This was too well thought out. Something wasn't right. "Simply ask, Asami, and it will obey."

She looked at us as if asking if she should do it or not. We nodded, _yes_. "The Warworld, please." I felt like squealing, I absolutely adore this girl's way of speech. In less then five seconds a boom tube opens underneath us, causing us to scream out of surprise and fall through it. A few seconds later it reopened somewhere else and we all fell harshly onto the ground. _'My body is _**_so_**_ tired of this.'_

As soon as we got back onto our feet we noticed that we were surrounded by Reach soldiers. Oh, goody.

"Hello." You know, I had been somewhat worried the moment a boom tube showed up beneath my feet... but now? Yeah, not so much. I was actually forcing myself not to crack up. _'Ok, when we get out of here, I have got to explain to Sam when to and when not to say things.'_

The next person to speak was Virgil, but instead of him trying to, you know, motivate us, he did this: "Oh, we give up! We give up! Please don't hurt us!" The rest of us looked at each other in surprise as Virgil fell to his knees with his hands on the back of his head in surrender. _'He's lost it...' _"It was stupid to come here! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! I knew this wouldn't work." _'Is he being serio- no, I know Virgil... he's faking!' _

I followed his lead and dropped onto my knees with my hands behind my head. "We were stupid! Please don't hurt us! We're sorry!"

The others were quick to catch on and follow our lead.

"They're right, we don't want any trouble. We just want to go home."

The Reach guards didn't seem to buy it, at least not the one that grabbed Virgil by the front of the shirt and forced him off his knees. Of course, Virgil wasn't even the slightest bit fazed. "Fooled ya." Before the guard had a chance to react, he had already been hit on the head by Virgil's man whole cover. Yeah, no matter how many times I say that... it just doesn't sound right...

We followed his lead and used our powers to get away or to knock out the guards. Without lifting up my hands, I gazed from guard to guard before they were throw back. _'I seriously love these powers.' _

"Oh hu! Now you gone done woke up the big man!" Either my ears were fooling me or I took way too long to understand that, English. Took me less than a second to notice Tye's Astro Form. _'Oh... woke up the big man... makes sense.'_

We ended up knocking out all the Reach soldiers, actually, Tye did. Unfortunately, our victory was short-lived thanks to more Reach soldiers appearing.

"Ed, Felicity, Tye, Sam, time to go." _'Not complaining!'_

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** _ Next Chapter Preview: _ **

"Tye!"

"Please tell me he did not just take out our big gun in three seconds flat." _'That was faster th__an last__ time...' _

"Scatter!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapters every Friday.  
Hope you enjoyed and have a good day/night.


	27. Heroes To The Rescue

I could hear everything around me even after having been rendered somewhat unconscious. We had been able to fight off the rest of the Reach soldiers and have the fatherbox take us to Superboy... unfortunately, the world seems to have some kind of hatred towards us, as the scene played out like this:

_Tye used his Astro Form to pull up a giant door-wall-thing since the fatherbox said that Superboy was behind it... it was correct, but what I saw only made my body became tense. 'This is...'_

_You know that moment when something seems so familiar that it's almost like a dream? Something that makes your body shudder with fright and freeze up in anticipation? Sort of like a sense of... Déjà vu? Yeah, same here, I know the feeling... I'm going through it right now. 'This is the same place from my dream...' There were pods littering the place from the ceiling to the ground. No matter where you looked you would only see more and more, most were empty with only a few having anyone within them... those "_ ** _anyone_ ** _" were the Heroes..._

_"Oh, man... there they are..."_

_"Looks like they're frozen."_

_Then our biggest nightmare felt like making his grand entrance... "They are in stasis." I didn't even want to look back, I knew who it was... _ ** _we_ ** _ knew who it was... "And you will join them soon enough." Black Beetle..._

Glad to say that we hadn't joined them, but we didn't get away from him either... more like, getting thrown down like used up rags:

_My body didn't want to answer me. I wanted to run, but my body was frozen in fear. I knew we didn't stand a chance against him... how Ed and I had even been conscious as long as we were on the last fight was still a mystery to me... _

_Finally, I managed to turn around, but as soon as I did my entire body _ _began_ _ to itch. I remembered everything, it hadn't even been a week since the fight... since the betrayal... so everything was still freshly engraved in our minds..._

_"Guys... we can't win..."_

_"Please, don't let that stop you from attacking me. I could use the exercise, but this time, do make it more entertaining." I don't know if it's just me, but his voice continued getting creepier and creepier..._

_Tye, surprisingly, was the one to attack Black Beetle. I knew he was probably the most fearless out of all of us, but it still surprised me... sadly, that wast all that surprised me. _

_Black Beetle threw Tye on the ground and used his sonic cannon to break Tye's Astro Form concentration by causing him pain, rendering him unconscious._

_"Tye!"_

_"Please tell me he did not just take out our big gun in three seconds flat." 'That was faster than last time...' _

_"Scatter!"_

Now that I think about it, running would have been a good idea... if my body had felt like listening at the right time. We had all been knocked out quite quickly. We still weren't at our full capacities. We were still tired. Our bodies were still stressed... and... we were still scared...

_'Itchy...' _Everything itched, my body and my mind were itching and it was annoying me like crazy. _'Open your eyes __God__damn it! You still got control!' _It would be great if my body agreed... unfortunately, it didn't.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, I cracked my eyes open. Everything was sort of blurred. I heard a metallic sound slowly grow near and shifted my attention upwards. Narrowing my eyes I was able to distinguish a body standing over me. Once my vision cleared completely, I was faced with the images of Black Beetle looking down at me. _'Well, shit.'_

"Was it fun?"

"W-What?" _'This... this happened before... I know it did...'_

"Being betrayed. Was it fun?" He let out a wicked laugh. I froze. _'This is from my dream... it... it wasn't a dream...'_

"You'll pay for everything you guys have done to us!" The words left my lips before I even got the chance to think... I sounded angry and betrayed... I knew those were just big words that came from a small girl who was scared... I knew I wasn't strong enough to take him head-on... I knew I was still weak...

"Of course, I will. Meat bag." My eyes narrowed slightly, but before I got the chance to do anything, Black Beetle was thrown to the side.

My head shot to the left where Ed stood with a... an... an alien... laser... staff... thing? They couldn't just create normal things... could they?

Ed teleported over to me and helped my-wobbly-self onto my feet. I had to lean on him for a bit before gaining my balance. "Thanks."

"No problem, chica." I smiled, maybe the kid's finally warming up to me. _'Wow... I have incredibly inappropriate timing don't I?' _"We have to keep Black Beetle off his feet."

"And just how do we do-" Interruptions were so normal by now that I caught the thing that had been flying in my direction, with ease. An alien-laser-staff-thing... not surprising. "Where did you get-" Ed pointed back and behind him was a guy I had never seen before shooting lasers at Black Beetle. "And who's-"

"A foe."

"-that... ok." Well, He seems to be fighting on our side, so I might as well trust him. I took my stance and started blasting lasers at Black Beetle's feet. Hey, the kid said, "**_off his feet_**" so that's what I'm going to do... literally.

The others regained consciousness only a few minutes after our first attacks to Black Beetle. They were quick to understand our plan to keep him off balance and came to help.

The guy whose name I still did not know, while we attacked Black Beetle, was messing with a pod in the distance. I have no idea what he's trying to do, but we wouldn't be able to hold Black Beetle for much longer, so he'd better hurry. Not even a moment later, a crashing sound filled the air. My head shot to the side the moment I saw Black Beetle turn to the side. "Mongul! This is all your fault!" _'Well, he hurried... that's for sure, and this was extremely unexpected... sweet.'_

As soon as the Mongul guy rose to his feet he attacked Black Beetle who was quick to retaliate and forget all about us. _'Now, that was really unexpected.'_

"You guys free the team! There's something else I need to get." Still don't know who the hell this guy is, but I'm still not going against his wishes. Ed and I blasted the sides of the stasis cages and got the heroes out, alongside the others, of course. "Ándale, súper-niño. _(A/N: My apologies if this isn't the correct way of writing it, but I don't know how to write. I'm free to hear if it is the correct way or not.)_" Ed immediately went to get Superboy and the reason as to why took me a few seconds to understand... my brain was still jello. I feel dense...

The heroes were all quite out of it, so we had to hold some of them up. I was, at the moment, helping a blond girl who looked like she would work with Wonder Woman, onto her feet.

The guy from before suddenly appeared holding what looked like a shield, Wonder Woman's rope, and belts... nothing strange going on here... nope.

"Let's go! Move!" Without a word, we followed after him. "Ok, get ready, there's a squad of Reach soldiers waiting for us." And this was the moment I began to question my life decision once more... what in Heaven's name got me into this? Oh yeah, life...

Our little group of Runaway misfits where two of us were not actually runaways was quick to get into a fighting stance and protect the heroes since they were, obviously, not at full capacity.

The guys put his mechanical- wait... how did I not? Damn... I'm really dense...

He put his mechanical arm on a weird thing on the wall and opened the door... what we saw was not what we expected.

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"See we don't need your help getting back to earth, or your offer to join the team. We have our own way of doing things."

"So we have no necessity for your help... of any kind."

"What do you say, bro, want to ride with us?"


	28. No More Promises

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!! I'm tired ,so if this sucks I apologize.  
Hope you enejoy it nontheless.  
Have a good day and/or night.

  
On the other side of the door stood a guy dressed in all black with what looked like a bird on his chest and a black mask on his face. I recognized him as Nightwing. Next to him was a green woman who looked like she worked with Martian Manhunter, and was floating. Behind them was a weird bike thing that I couldn't exactly identify, but it looked alien. And in front of them were a bunch of knocked out Reach soldiers. _'Unexpected, but handy.'_

The guy who helped us rescue the heroes immediately ran to Nightwing while we went back to helping the heroes walk.

"Everyone safe?"

"For now."

"The crystal key?"

"Gone. And we better get gone too before one of them declares a winner."

"Right. Move out." These were instructions that I had absolutely no problem in following. I wanted out of here, and I wanted it now.

We quickly ran through the alien ship before arriving in front of a smaller ship. _'The same one from when they saved us...' _The heroes carried themselves in while Nightwing came to talk to us.

"I think congratulations are in order. No training, no guidance and yet you pulled it off." Those are compliments... right? "When we get back after a debrief there might be a place for all of you with the team." This guy can't be serious...

"Wow... really?"

"Of course, we save their asses, and then they don't mind us **not** being guinea pigs..." Tye looked at me for a second. _'Did I say that out loud?'_

"So now that we saved your butts, you're cool with us not being Star Labs' guinea pigs." Yes, yes I did.

"Dude, chill."

"Before we head back we need to talk about Blue Beetle. He betrayed us." Of course, it had to be about him. He's probably the reason what they got captured in the firsts place.

"Look who's talking. Last thing I remember is you blowing an airlock without warning. Nearly got us all killed and **absolutely** guaranteed our capture."

"Hey! After eight years on ice, there's no way I was getting grabbed again, and in case you didn't notice my escape resulted in you being free now to stand here and complain. So how about a _thank you_."

"You're right Arsenal." So his hero name is Arsenal... cool name. "Thank you. And after we get back to earth you're off. The. Team." My eyes widen as I took a step forward.

"What?!"

"W-W-Wait a minute!"

"If it wasn't for Arsenal we wouldn't have rescued anyone."

"That may be, but this isn't the first time he's pulled this kind of stunt... intentionally endangering the lives of teammates in order to further his own agenda or guard against his own personal demons. It's unacceptable. So until you prove yourself a team player, you have no place on this team."

"Dude!"

"Felicity what are you-" someone grabbed my arm and I already knew who it was, but they weren't going to stop me. Not when I'm pissed.

"Oh, hell no! Virgil hands off!" I yanked my arm from his hold and took a step in front of Arsenal. "Man, you gotta be stupid or something!"

"Excuse-"

"Oh, no, no you don't. Don't you go interrupting me when I'm mad." Haven't gotten mad like this before... this isn't going to end well... "Look, I got no idea what he's done before or what happened to him to make him act this way but you have absolutely no right whatsoever to talk to him like that! How would you act if you had been encased in ice for eight years?! You wouldn't be all happy and chipper now would you?!" He opened his mouth to answer. "No, you wouldn't. I have no idea who the fuck you are and I could honestly care less, so before opening your godforsaken mouth how about thinking?!"

"Ok, that's enough." Tye grabbed me and pulled me towards the others. I didn't fight against it, keeping my mouth shut would probably be a good idea.

Nightwing acted as if I hadn't said anything and continued on his merry hero way. "Let's get aboard and get out of here. We can discuss this further when we are not behind enemy lines." He and Bumblebee made their way up the ramp of the ship but stopped when they saw we didn't follow.

"Sounds like there's nothing left to discuss."

"See, we don't need your help getting back to earth, or your offer to join the team. We have our own way of doing things."

"So we have no necessity for your help... of any kind."

"What do you say, bro, want to ride with us?"

"Sounds like a plan." _'New runaway. Cool.'_

Before anyone had anything else to add, Sam grabbed the fatherbox from her pocket.

"Wait! Is that a-"

"Home please." Nightwing's phrase was cut short as a boom tube appeared beneath our feet, and we all fell through it. This would be a painful landing, our apartment floor wasn't exactly what you'd call comfortable since boxes of pizza, soda cans, Chinese food, empty smoothies, and dictionaries littered the place.

We landed on the same spot that we had originally been standing in when Luthor told us the details of his little mission. Ironically, he was still on the computer screen when we got there. Creepy little gremlin.

"So am I right in thinking congratulations are in order?" I did so not miss that voice.

"Luthor!" Arsenal was the first to his feet as he stared straight at the bad idiot on the screen.

"Ah, you brought home a souvenir."

"Lex Luthor's got you running his errands on the Warworld?!" We got onto our feet and looked at him. "This guy's the reason I'm missing eight years of my life and my arm! Don't you get it? He didn't care if you rescued the team! He was using you!"

"You gotta be kidding... I knew I didn't like him."

"... As a distraction to lure Black Beetle away from the crystal key so that one of his other pawns could steal it!"

"Deathstroke is more of a bishop actually."

"Your opinion isn't needed!"

"I'm not sure I understand the problem, you rescued the heroes and dealt a blow to the Reach. Isn't that exactly what I promised you?"

"Just cause you promised something doesn't mean that was your main intention."

We looked at Sam as she grabbed the fatherbox once more and threw it on the computer. As soon as it landed Asami used her Chi Manipulation to blow up both objects.

"No more promises." As much as this felt like a good thing it also felt weird... what were we going to do now?

"So what do we do now?"

"We take our stuff and find somewhere else to live."

And so we did, we grabbed all the possessions we actually cared about even just a bit. We grabbed our dictionaries, skateboards and the money Luthor had given us. Yeah, we still had some, we didn't use it all... we're not that out of control.

We didn't clean the apartment or even try to tidy it just a bit, we needed to leave before Luthor had the bright idea to send one of his goons to get us. We still didn't know where we were headed, but Arsenal said that he might have someone who can help.

____________________________________________________________________

"Damn, teens make incredible decisions."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, they ain't with Luthor anymore, that's for sure. They got a new little group member too."

"Who?"

"The Arsenal kid." The female sighed.

"Not surprising... where are they going?"

"No idea. I'm not being able to see it since the kid still isn't sure if his decision is the right one... but they'll probably be with Green."

"He won't tell the team. He wouldn't do anything that could harm Arsenal in any way." The other female shrugged.

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"So kid, how's it going?"

"Mariana?! How did you-"

"I got friends in low places."

"I'm not even sure I want to know."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New Chapters Every Friday.


	29. I Have No Idea Where I Am

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OK, so I forgot about the preview...yeah... sorry...  
The preview from the last chapter will be the one for the next one since I am NOT re-writing this cause I love it.  
So, I'll try to get the next chap out as soon as possible.  
And once more... I apologize for my lack of attentiveness. I won't forget again.

"You know, if I hadn't known you were coming, I'd be surprised that you're asking me for help and not your little hero group." The eldest female laughed loudly causing everyone around them to look their way in annoyance.

"Right now isn't the right time to ask them for help, especially, after what happened with Arsenal and the others."

"Understandable. So, you want to know where they are, right?"

"Yup."

"The Arsenal kid ended up agreeing to his first instinct even though he didn't want to." The younger female sighed and nodded.

"So they're with Green?"

"He gave them a place. Anything to get his ex-pupil to forgive him."

"Sounds like him." The female grabbed the baseball bat that sat neatly next to her and got up. Before getting the chance to walk away she was stopped by the sound of the older female's voice.

"Don't go doing anything stupid or I'll break that precious bat of yours."

"I wouldn't dream of it."  
____________________________________________________________________

_Opening my eyes, I took in the white-walled and wood-floored room, covered in purple things. 'I have no idea where I am.' The place looks a bit like my own room, but without all my stuff. And unlike my room, there were things all over the place. A few sneakers along with some clothes were scattered around the room, be it on the floor or atop furniture._

_My eyes travelled the room, looking up and down the walls covered in pictures that I paid no mind to, a few posters held themselves up. They were Frozen, Tangled and Pocahontas posters with the names plastered on with big letters and the characters standing next to them. There was also a small bookshelf in one corner of the room that consisted of scientific books alongside some fantasy and mystery ones. Soon, my gaze landed upon a desk, just a few centimetres from a bed with light blue and purple covers placed against a wall, leaving no space for a bedside table._

_There, on the desk, sat a short-haired girl. Lose papers, a computer, coloured pens, and some open books littered the desk and the floor around it. The girl had her back turned to the door of the room as she worked on the computer while furiously scribbling on some papers before ripping them in half and throwing them into a small bin under the desk._

_"Felicity, you should probably rest a little." The voice came out soft and low with a hint of worry and annoyance lacing around it. Some noticeable traits of the voice was the slight trace of raspiness and force hidden behind the softness. There was a strong Hispanic accent and the voice was, by the sound of it, female._

_The sound of my name caught both me and the girl sitting at the desk off guard, causing my body to stiffen in surprise and the girl to drop everything she was doing with a loud yelp._

_My body was about to turn towards the voice, but was, unfortunately, interrupted by the harsh blow of reality that thought it would be a good idea to throw an ice-cold bucket of "Get up" on me. And in the process, incapacitating me from seeing the owner of the voice and the short-haired girl's face, since she seemed to be turning around. Gee, thanks._

____________________________________________________________________

My consciousness slowly started to re-surface resulting in me opening my tired eyes and being greeted by blissful darkness. The only illumination that was given came from the moon that stood tall in the sky, just outside the window, making the unfamiliar environment look somewhat creepy and lonely.

I noticed Sam sleeping on a bed next to the one I was within. She looked peaceful which only became more evident by her soft snoring. If she snores softly it means she's comfortable, learned that the hard way. In Star, she would be very unsteady while sleeping and would snore quite loudly, but when we ran away, she became peaceful... almost... angelic.

I looked forward and saw a closed door. Throwing my legs off the side of the bed I pushed myself onto my feet and into my sneakers. Once in front of the door, my hand met the cold doorknob and twisted it, opening it and allowing me to walk out.

The environment that stood beyond the door was even more unfamiliar than the room I had just walked out of. I wasn't met with a long hallway like what I'm used to, but instead I was greeted by a gloomy-looking living room/dining room, that consisted of two big windows on one of the walls; a few smaller windows on the same wall; two doors, that I assumed led to different parts of the house/apartment; two couches parallel to each other and a TV in front of them; and last, but not least, a table with chairs around it.

The place, at least at the moment, gave off an unpleasant vibe be it because I had no idea where I am or because my brain was still somewhat foggy from sleep, it made me feel uneasy. As much as I'd like to find the light switch and flip the lights on, I decided against it since I'd much rather not attract any unwanted attention.

It would still take some time until I was fully back to my senses, so I did what any sensible person would do... I decided to explore the unfamiliar territory which could, inevitably, get me killed or in trouble. I looked to the left of the room I had walked out of and saw four more doors.

Taking a few hesitant steps towards the doors, my hands met the knob as my feet settled in front of it. One doorknob twist later and here we are staring at a snoring Virgil who was already half out of the bed with his head on the floor, arms above it and sleeping sideways within the bed, probably losing all his comfort. On the other bed in the room, was Tye who was peacefully sleeping with his hands on his stomach looking like a body in a sarcophagus... peaceful nonetheless... I guess...

Making sure not to make noise, though, the door seemed to have it out for me as it creaked loudly, I closed it and moved to the next one. Opening it, I was met with the beautiful image of Ed sleeping like a newly born baby, minus the crying, of course. He was snoring softly and had the cover wrapped tightly around him creating a sort of cacoon. _'Peaceful children.'_

After having been blessed by all the sleeping faces of my friends I moved towards the third door and opened it with caution. All I saw was a bathroom, or what I assumed to be one. It was hard to tell since the small window at the very top and center of the wall parallel of the door was the only illumination, and it seemed to have been created with the sole purpose of not allowing the moon to shine its light.

Rolling my eyes, I, once more, moved to the side, this time though, landing on the fourth and final door. I don't know why, but this door made me extra anxious, maybe it's because it's the last door or maybe it's because I already saw all my friends so now I'm frightened of what I might find since I know they're safe and sound.

Taking in a long breath I placed my shaky hand on the doorknob. Funny, I hadn't noticed I was shaking... guess that's what happens when you become very anxious. Letting the heavy breath out I pushed the door open, watching it go back before softly hitting the wall making a small numb sound.

There was a bed on one side of the room right under the window. A small bedside table stood next to it with a small lamp and gadgets that I dare not describe for I may insult someone if I try. The room was empty as the bed looked like it hadn't been touched and been made to look perfect.

Blinking in surprise I stretched my arm into the room, quickly grabbed the door and closed it, just in case. I moved my body to look behind me and was once again met with the gloomy-looking living/dining room that stared back at me, unchanged. Sighing, I moved around it as the moon illuminated everything through the windows making it all look somewhat worn out and like the perfect picture.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapters every Friday.  
Thank you for reading.  
Hope you enjoyed and have a nice day/night.


	30. How Did You-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is, most certainly, not as good as the last one, but I still like it... ignoring the cringe dialogues, of course...

I tried to move around the room silently, ignoring the sound of some creaking floorboards and the piercing silence of the night when the boards were silenced.

This place was honestly unnerving to walk around at night, but I wanted to see what laid behind the other two doors. Behind the first one was a white-walled and black floored kitchen with black and white counters, a fridge and a stove. In the middle sat a black and white countered island, one door leading to a small pantry, one small window and a door leading to a balcony that I would most certainly not walk through since I'm not a fan of balconies.

Once out of the kitchen my attention shifted to the second door I wanted to explore, like an idiot. A small key stand was hung up next to the door, though, it was empty. '_It's probably the front door...' _My next decision was to go for a walk. You know, what smart people do... at night... in an unknown place... with aliens roaming about. Anyway, I was already prepared to open the door when I was interrupted before having the chance to do so.

"It's locked." I held myself from screaming as I whipped around to look at the individual who thought it would be fun to give me a heart attack at night in an unknown place. The voice was that of a male if my ears aren't tricking me. Whoever spoke had a hint of amusement laced with annoyance in their voice, and they didn't seem to be in the best mood.

I could feel my heartbeat, slowly going into steady pace once more, as I saw the person's identity. Arsenal. I really wasn't fond of the guy right now!  
"Would you, please, not do that!"

"You'd make more noise trying to open that door then you did walking around here."

"Oh... uh... thanks... I guess..." And that awkward silence fell upon the land as it usually does in these kinds of situations. "So... uh... when did we get here?"

"Thirty-one hours ago."

"We've been sleeping for two days?!"

"Almost. You're all heavy sleepers."

I shrugged. "Not very surprising in pure honesty." I looked at him for a second, realizing only now that he was sited on one of the window seals. "How long have you been sitting there?"

"What's it matter to you?"

"I take it you don't want to talk."

"Well, gee! I'm surprised you noticed."

"Hey!"

"What? Gonna be all pouty, now?"

His response made me, against my best wishes, pout. "No..." What he did next surprised me. He laughed. _'I did not expect that.' _I felt like now he was just making fun of me and enjoying to watch me suffer. Turning around, I crossed my arms over my chest. "You act like a mean older brother..." I sounded like a mumbling child that had just become all sulky.

Once again, his laugh filled the mostly quiet room. "And you act like an annoying younger sister." I'm not sure if we're getting along, but I actually fought back a laugh. _'Either I got this guy to not have a problem with me or I'm gonna die.'_

Ironically, just as fast as this little moment began it dissipated into the Netherlands, never to be heard of again as his face fell back into a scowl the moment I turned back around. "If you want to go out here's the key."

Before I had a chance to process his words something hit me in the forehead, making me stumble back a little in surprise and stretch my hands out to catch what had hit before I lost it on the floor. Something small and cold fell onto my hands. Obviously, it was the key. "Uh... thanks!"

His only response was a grunt as he moved to look outside, ignoring the rest of my measly existence. _'What a sweetheart!' _Without a second to lose, I put the key into the door, turned it and pulled the door open.

I was met with a long hallway with a few doors on each side and two elevators at the end of it. The lights turned on as soon as my presence was known, which was great... except that the lights were fading making me feel uneasy again.

Moving to stand outside the door, I looked back at Arsenal who was already holding up a second key. "I have one. So take the one you have." I nodded, took the key from the door and closed it. "And don't get caught." Not sure if I heard him correctly or if he even actually said anything, but I could have sworn I heard his voice right when the door closed.

With a shiver running up and down my spine, I walked to the elevators and called one of them up. It took three minutes to get to me and once it did, I hurriedly rushed inside and pressed the button to the ground floor. I counted how many levels I passed so that I had an idea which one I descended from. Once at the bottom, I walked out of the building only to be greeted by the cold night air hitting me straight in the face. It was both cold and dark with the street lamps flickering every now and then. The moon was now hidden behind some passing clouds which only made the environment around me creepier.

My body was itching for me to turn around and go back into the building and back into bed, but my brain wanted to walk and get all the worries out of my head. So, right now, they were trying to kill each other.

"So, kid, how's it going?" A scream ran passed my lips as my arms threw themselves up and my hands balled into fists and were thrown forward, following after my body that turned around.

I didn't get the chance to hit anything since whoever had spoken had grabbed my wrists and forced them to my sides. Looking up at the person, my heart rate calmed down and a heavy breath flew passed my lips. "Mariana?! How did you-"

"I got friends in low places."

"I'm not even sure I want to know."

"You will soon enough."

"Sounds great, but can you... I don't know... let me go? You're kinda hurting my arms."

Realizing what I had said, Mariana quickly dropped my wrists and patted my head. "Sorry about that, chica. Guess we're both jumpy."

Caressing my wrists I nodded at her. "Don't worry about it. It's understandable."

"So, how's the new house?"

"I've been sleeping till now so I'm still not used to it."

"Almost two days of sleep? Damn, the Warworld must have taken a lot out of you."

"Yeah, it di-" My mouth stopped itself and my eyebrows raised slightly before narrowing as I heard her words. "How do you know about the Warworld?" I wasn't gonna lie to her since she can tell when I do... so, I might as well ask how she knows. If she doesn't want me to know she's going end up bringing up some excuse.

"What's a Warworld?" And the dumb question has been asked. _'She's not good at acting stupid.'_

"Mariana, how do you know I was there? And don't lie." One sign to know if she's uncomfortable or said something she wasn't supposed to, is when she starts fiddling with her hands or, in this case, with her baseball bat that she did not have five seconds ago.

Sighing she brought one of her hands to my shoulder. "I hate when I have to come clean. Ok, so the thing is..."

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Closing the door, I looked in the direction of the windows. No Arsenal.

Rolling my eyes I moved to stand next to one of the smaller windows before placing my hands on the window seal and pushing myself onto it. Inevitably, sitting down as I wanted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapters every Friday.  
Hope you liked it and have a good day/night.  
Thank you for your time.


	31. Worries

The night air continued cold, carrying the message the wind wanted delivered. The moon continued hidden behind the misty clouds, covering its light and forbidding it from lighting up the cold streets, blocking out the dim street lights that flickered.

The wind slowly picked up allowing its howls to flow freely against the windows while picking up the loose strands of hair that stood out of the braid and throwing them from side to side before calming down once more and restoring the peacefulness of the night.

A sigh broke through the silent cries of the wind as my hands left my face and I rose from my sitting position. My body shivered lightly as if to tell me to go back inside. This time... I did as asked... walking up the three steps of the building I found myself within the cold hallway with doors on either side and two elevators at the end of it.

My feet, against my will, walked slowly towards the first elevator causing the not so silent steps to bounce off the walls. Once in front of the doors, my hand found its way to the buttons, pushing one and, inevitably, calling the man-made mechanical device to the ground floor, telling it to come and get me.

Once the doors opened I stepped in and pressed the button to the seventh floor. It took me up slowly and each passing floor was an agonizing wait, until, finally, my destination was reached and I stepped out of the elevator, into the dimly lighted hallway and towards the front door I had previously walked out of. It wasn't locked making my entry quite easy. _'Should have locked it...'_

Closing the door and locking it behind me, I looked in the direction of the windows. No Arsenal.

Rolling my eyes I moved to stand next to one of the smaller windows before placing my hands on the window seal and hoisting myself up onto it. Inevitably, sitting down as I wanted.

Looking outside, I stared at the spot where Mariana and I had talked, noticing that the moon had been freed from its hidden prison, free to shine its light once more. One of the street lights in front of the building officially decided to quit its everyday job, only to be fixed the next day, getting ripped away from its holiday. The wind hit the windows lightly, being repelled backwards while howling in pain. And the streets remained empty as if no living soul had ever encountered their way onto it.

After some time of just staring aimlessly at the gloomy scenery outside the window and below my feet, my mind began to drift away, thinking of everything that had happened until now. I have done this plenty of times, though, it hadn't proven to help in any way until now... maybe thinking of everything only made it more confusing... but I had nothing else I could do.

I was against the idea of talking to the others... I know they're struggling as well and I would much rather not burden them with my worries and traumas. The betrayal from Claire still hurt... It cut deep and I don't like it... it made me feel uneasy, uncomfortable and... mad. Yes, it hurt like hell to be betrayed by your best friend, but it was more unnerving to know that she was being **forced** to do it. She was being **controlled** and there was **nothing** that could be done about it.

Another aspect of these last two months that still makes and will continue making me feel uneasy for a long time, is the traumatic torture the Reach put me and the others through. I'm very well aware that, that trauma will live on with us for a long time and that we may never get over it...

Most people will probably say that we should talk about our fears, our worries, our nerves... our traumas... but I'm not sure if that will help.

I am and always will be, against burdening people with my problems. With my worries. With my issues. They're mine to solve and I don't want anyone's pity. When I'm ready to talk I will and sooner or later these things will slowly dissipate... they will never truly disappear, but they will get better...

A loud yawn escaped my lips, consuming the comfortable silence that I had been wrapped in. "If you're sleepy you should probably go back to bed." My yawn must have muffled the footsteps of whoever had spoken since I didn't hear them walk in nor did I hear a door opening.

"What woke you?"

"Your heavy footsteps."

"Jerk."

"Truthful." By the sound of the male voice that rang through the living/dining room, I could already tell who it was. By the sound of it, he had just woken up a few minutes ago.

I tiredly looked at the person, not surprised to say that it was Tye, who was leaning against the door frame to the room both he and Virgil were sharing at the moment. Saying nothing I hopped off the window seal causing a loud screech from the floorboards underneath my feet making both me and Tye freeze for a second before hearing Virgil's snores.

Relaxing almost instantly, I allowed my feet to guide me to Tye whose only response to my presence was a pat on the head before he headed to the bathroom. I watched as the door closed and I was secluded again. I didn't think of waiting for him to say goodnight as I moved into the room, closing the door behind me, throwing my sneakers onto the floor and face-planting onto the bed.

After a while I allowed myself to look up and to take my face away from the bedsheets that forbade my breathing. Looking around the room I took it all in. Two beds parallel to each other, two bedside tables next to said beds, and a big wardrobe next to the door carved into the wall.

It was a nice room I'd give it that much, but it was too empty which only indicated that we had just arrived and wouldn't be staying here for long. The only question now was... what was gonna happen to us from here on out? How long would it be until the Reach was kicked out? How long would it be until everything went back to normal?

With those questions running around in my mind, my eyes grew tired and my limbs heavy. Sleep was taking over and I was gonna let it do as it pleased, it wouldn't do me any good to stay up and worry more. Closing my eyes I allowed the blissful darkness to overtake me. The peaceful slumber that surrounded me preventing me from hearing loud creaking door that would usually make me jump as I fell asleep.

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"F-Felicidade!" She ran over to me and glomped me in a tight hug. "Sentia tantas saudades tuas. (I missed you so much.)" My eyes softened as I returned the embrace. "Estou tão feliz por saber que isto é real!" She shook lightly, causing me to pat her head.

"I've missed you too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapters are published every Friday.  
Hope you enjoyed and have a nice day.


	32. Dreams

  
"You really don't know when to keep your mouth shut... do you?"

"Look, I'm sorry, ok? It just came out."

"Cause the kid asked you."

Rolling her eyes, the youngest of the two dropped her bat on the seat beside her. "So, you think he'll actually go?"

"It's my old man. What do you think?"

"And the chances that he'll talk about you, are?"

"Slim."

Blinking a few times the female laughed. "If you say so."

____________________________________________________________________

_My body felt light, but I wasn't floating, in actuality, my feet where firmly planted on the ground. It felt as if my body had been left here and I just dived right back in. I wanted my eyes to open, but they fought against me, denying my requests to see the world that surrounded me._

_A surprised gasp followed by a door closing immediately after is what caused my eyes to shoot open, only to be met with the surprised face of Maria who held her hands over her mouth in shock while staring at me. Shaking her head a few times and rubbing her hands over her eyes as if to make sure who she saw standing before her was real or just a fragment of her imagination, she broke into a sprint in my direction._

_"F-Felicidade!" She ran over to me and glomped me in a tight hug. "Sentia tantas saudades tuas. (I missed you so much.)" My eyes softened as I returned the embrace. "Estou tão feliz por saber que isto é real!" She shook lightly, causing me to pat her head._

_"I've missed you too."_

_"A tua nonna está a tua espera. (Your grandma is waiting for you.)" She slowly let me go and took a step back. 'Grandma...' "Estás preparada? (Are you ready?)" I gave a curt nod before walking to the front door. 'This is it... it's been 2 months... I can do this!'_

_And then I stopped with my shaky hand inches away from the doorknob, I turned to look back at her as the events that stood before me hit me like a bus and I found myself just a few feet above the two teen girls that had hugged not even a moment ago. I was me for a second, hugging Maria again and talking to her, but I had no control of my movements or of my own thoughts._

_Without even having time to think, the scene in front of me faded only to be replaced with a different one. This time I wasn't in front of my house nor was I watching everything unfold from my own eyes within my physical body._

_I was, once again, floating just a few feet above a short-haired girl on a desk with her back still turned to the door and towards me. I recognized the girl and the room from one of my last dreams. This time though, the room looked more organized and compact with fewer papers, clothes and just random everyday objects scattered all over the floor._

_She continued furiously scribbling on the papers on the desk before letting out a screech and grabbing her hair in frustration as her head dropped on the desk with a thud._

_The door to the room opened not even a second later allowing access to a young woman around 20 or so, her short brown hair with blue highlights bouncing from side to side with each step she took towards the girl. "Kiddo you should probably rest. You've been at this for hours." _

_Without even turning around and with her head still on the desk, she let out a discouraged grunt making the woman laugh and pat her head._

_And then, once more, the scene faded from my sight, shifting from a bedroom to a whiteish and greyish room that looked a lot like the one the others and I had been "trained" and tested within... Star Labs, making me feel somewhat uneasy._

_My feet resumed their place on the ground, but unlike last time I actually had control over my movements. Bringing my hands to meet the cold walls, I turned around and took it all in. For as uneasy as this place made me feel, it also brought a feeling of comfort which I hadn't expected._

_With the sound of a slight cough irrupting from behind me, I lost the ability of control and my body moved on it's own allowing me to be face-to-face with a guy who looked a lot like an older and more tanned version of Eduardo._

_Seeing my obvious confusion followed by surprise that I felt creep onto my face, he released an amused laugh. "It's the third time I find you here this week." His voice... it sounded just like Ed... slightly older, yes... but still Eduardo. _

_I was completely caught off guard, but my body didn't react accordingly to how I felt. It laughed and smiled warmly at him before walking over to him and placing a hand on his shoulder. "Memories."_

_"You say that every time."_

_Trying to answer was out of the question as everything shifted again, bringing me to a different scene. This time I was sited next to Claire or my physical body was, at least, while I was just floating watching myself interact with one of my best friends. _

_"It's still not a good idea... I know that I came to call you guys, but..." Her voice fell with each word that left her lips._

_I watched myself place a reassuring hand on her shoulder as I tried to make myself look strong. "Hey, it's fine. You don't have to worry. It's nice to know that we're needed for more than just some experiments or as little teammates that did nothing to gain their place in the said team other than rebel against everyone." The second part was an obvious lie. We had saved them so we had in fact done something worth the while to be approved into their team. Even if he had rebelled, we still came through to help them just like they did us, but I understood where I was coming from... after all, that was still me talking. _

_"Hey! That's not true! You guys-"_

_"Shush! Don't interrupt me, child!" As she stared at me for a while you could see the gears in her head-turning in an extraordinarily slow pace as she took in my joking attitude. And then, she laughed hysterically before urging me to continue through the laughed tear-filled eyes. _

_My eyes softened slightly at the sight that unfolded before me. This was and is, exactly, how Claire and I interact with each other... its the way we get each other to smile and relax..._

_I wanted to watch further, but the world wanted to interrupt me... not that I'm really complaining... it still hurt to know that my friend was far from my reach thanks to, ironically, the Reach. Counterintuitive, isn't it?_

_Everything around me stopped for a moment, moving in slow motion. Allowing me to watch the new scene unfold:_

_"Felicity!" A childish scream came from behind me, followed by the sound of little feet hitting the rocky ground filled the silent air. The female voice continued squealing until I felt something hit my back as little arms wrapped themselves around my neck and legs dangled from my back._

_"Hola, Sasha."_

_"You're back! You're back! Mommy, she's back! She's back!"_

_"Sasha! I told you to stay in bed and sleep!"_

_"¡Pero mamá! She's back!" An amused laugh escaped my lips as my arms shot back and in one swift movement brought the seven-year-old into my arms. She was no longer dangling from my back but continued with her arms around my neck with a goofy and childish grin on her face._

_"Your Spanish is improving."_

_"Really?" Her eyes twinkled in delight and an even bigger smile overtook her face as she threw her arms up in joy causing me to lose my balance and almost fall backwards and drop her. Luckily, no one got hurt as an arm wrapped around my back and a hand grabbed one of her wrists pulling her to me. _

_"Either I've gone insane from the lack of sleep or that chico just teleported." I had already noticed Señora Diaz watching my interaction with her daughter, but I hadn't noticed Eduardo spawning behind me to catch me._  
  
_And then everything around me started to fade away like sand in the wind. In a heartbeat Sasha has disappeared from my arms, Ed's hand was no longer on my back as he too disappeared, and when I looked back at where Señora Diaz stood... she was gone..._  
____________________________________________________________________

With a tired grunt, my body shifted under warm sheets. Forcefully, I sat down, eyes still closed, body swaying from side to side and sheets falling down.

I groggily grabbed my phone that sat neatly on the bedside-table, switching it on, once it stood in my hands I saw the time 23:58 PM. Allowing my body to crash back down, I ignored the thought of putting my phone back on the bedside-table or of bringing the sheets back up to over myself.

My ignorance was also so great that it missed the Japanese teen who was sited with her bedside-lamp on and an English to Japanese dictionary in her hands, staring at me in surprise.

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"Hello young man, does a girl named Felicity live here?"

And cue the sound of a bowl crashing onto the floor and breaking into a billion little fragments of shock and despair while ultimately flying all over the floor, incapacitating us from ever walking bare feet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapters every Friday.  
Have a nice day/night.  
Hope you enjoyed.


	33. Pictures

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OK, so this week's chapters are going to be published on seperate days, one will be today and the second will be either tomorrow or on Sunday.  
I'm prepared to be screamed at cause I had already told some people that the chapters would be delayed, but I decided to that only for the first one… Isi… Rukia… have mercy… please!  
Btw the chapter publishing dates have been changed, if you'd like to know to when, the "info" will be in the End Notes.

_Images swirled around me like a whirlpool of different shapes and colours, far too fast and close together for me to make out any of them. They continued that way for a while before beginning to paint themselves into the surrounding darkness that stood silently behind them. They went from small blurs to a full-on scenario of what I could only assume was a cemetery. _

_I could feel my heartbeat accelerate when my feet met the ground, my breaths became shallow and ragged, my vision became slightly clouded and my body shook in anticipation before taking off into a sprint. The adrenaline quickly pumped itself through my veins, causing me to run faster and to ignore the dizziness I felt._

_Everything that passed me by was nothing but a blur of dimly lighted streets and colours pushed together. I don't know where I was headed, but I wanted to get there fast. When my feet finally came to a halt, I was met with an agonizing pain in my chest. Something had struck me straight in the middle of my chest resulting in me staggering back a little as my breathing hitched._

____________________________________________________________________

I wasn't asleep nor was I awake. I was in that little world that sat between both realities, waiting for my body to decide what it wanted to do. Everything around me was mostly silent other than the slight sound of muttering a few feet away from me.

With some more effort than what I'm used to, my eyes open just a smidge. Just enough for the little bit of light to cloud my vision, and make them close again before opening once more, and blinking a few times so that I could get used to the light without going blind.

It was warm under the covers which made me reluctant to getting up, that is, until the events of my dream caught up to me, resulting in me shooting up from my lying position as my breaths came out ragged and forced, falling on the floor in the process and having my hands grasp the front of my blouse, over my chest to make sure that everything was fine and that those events truly were just a dream and not part of reality.

When my mind finally processed that I was fine and that none of that had happened, my breathing began to slow down. Drawing in a big breath I kept it in for a few seconds before releasing it and repeating this technique a few times.

With my hand still over my chest, I felt my heart rate go from beating extraordinarily and dangerously fast to beating slowly and normally like it's supposed to. My tense and uncertain body was reverting back to normal and relaxing. And yet another dream that gets me to feel this way...

"Nani? Felicity, are alright?" Feeling my body tense up, my hand tightened its hold on my blouse. I knew who had spoken, I mean there's only one other person in this house, other than me, that's female. Asami.

"I'm fine... yume (dream)..." I'm not sure if I said or even pronounced the word correctly, but my brain didn't have the capacity to think at the moment. With a loud sigh, I heard movement coming from the opposite side of the room followed by footsteps that headed towards me. I could feel her sitting down behind me before, without saying a word, grabbing my loose hair. "Sam? What are you doing?"

She paused and stopped her actions for a moment before continuing on and answer. "Braid." _'Oh, yeah... I took the braid out two days ago... didn't even remember to put it back.'_

I didn't answer, deciding to just allow her to do as she pleased. Sam did tell me or tried to in an adorable English, that she likes playing with mine and Tye's hair since we both have long hair though, mine is slightly longer than his and he doesn't allow her to braid it so she does it to mine since I prefer braids to have my hair-free.

The entire time she did my braid, I patiently tapped my fingers on the ground a habit I picked up from Arsenal in this last week. When he gets distracted or starts thinking a lot he taps his mechanical fingers on any wooden surface he can find. The time I've spent with everyone has made me pick up on some of their quirks and traits, resulting in me doing them subconsciously, like for example, Sam's constant muttering under her breath. It's her way of practicing English. It's caused me to mutter my thoughts out loud to myself more than usual.

Then there's Tye's ability to fall asleep anywhere as long as he has the possibility to either lie down or sit down. Luckily, that little trait of his hasn't been implemented into my brain or I'd be dead from falling asleep on an open window seal and falling down a building. I did fall once but that's a different story that involves Ed and not sleeping.

And then we have Virgil's annoying trait of surfing through channels every chance he gets. It's a little annoying when you're watching something like, G. Gordon calling out the Reach on their lies and finally saying something worth the while, and then just having the channel change the moment the Reach Ambassador gets pissed.

Eduardo has that thing of staring off into space and not listening to people. That one though, I rubbed off on him and not the other way around. Before that, I'd never really seen him do anything other than be quiet and pissed with the occasional eye roll. He only began to stare off into space and get stuck in his own world about a week ago.

"Hana." No answer. "Hana." Nada. "Hana!" Still no answer, not even a surprised yelp. "Chikushō! Sore kara sunappu! (Damn it! Snap out of it!)."

"Gah!! Don't scare me like that!" Holding up the braid, Sam shook it in front of my face while muttering a swear word in Japanese. "Oh... thanks... and gomen'nasai for not hearing." With a curt nod, she got back to her feet with me following close behind.

After that little moment of almost becoming deaf on my left ear, we left the room and went to the living room. It was 10:37 AM now and apparently, Asami has stayed awake all night just practicing her English, to which, of course, my motherly and overprotective side took over and I told her that she needed sleep and was forbidden to touch the dictionary until she had a long rest. Though, of course, this order will be ignored. It usually is.

With a quick _good morning_ directed towards the guys, both Asami and I went to grab our breakfast. Two bowls of cereals. Grabbing the bowls, the cereals and the spoons we left the kitchen and moved towards the couches. Sam sat down, but I stopped dead in my tracks when my vision passed by the television where the Reach tried to get the public to trust them again with a dumb publicity stunt, this time though, they had Blue save some people on live TV.

I was so caught up with what was happening on TV, that I missed the doorbell ringing and Virgil getting up to open the door.

When I looked back up and towards the wooden plank that was about to destroy me, I was met with a face I had never thought I'd see in person.

"Hello young man, does a girl named Felicity live here?"

And cue the sound of a bowl crashing onto the floor and breaking into a billion little fragments of shock and despair while ultimately flying all over the floor, incapacitating us from ever walking bare feet.

"... Dad?"

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"He blocked me!"

"Huh?"

"The piece of shit blocked me!"

"What do you-"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A small change has been made for the day when the chapters are published. They will now only be published during the weekend.  
Have a good day and enjoy.


	34. A Mighty Surprise

My body stood tense as the world around me slowed down and I allowed my thoughts to consume me. This _wasn't_ real... it _couldn't_ be real... it... this _isn't_ real... there's no way that it is. I'm dreaming. It's just another stupid dream that my brain created to mess with me.

As much as I wanted to believe that this was real, I couldn't. As much as I wanted to believe that my father was standing there right in front of me at our doorstep, I couldn't. I've spent years running from this rabbit hole of pain and I don't want to fall inside of it once again... I don't know how I got out... I'm not even sure if I know how I got out the first time...

I watched as my vision moved from him to the floor as my head hung low and my fists tightened until my knuckles turned white. I didn't want to look up, it would hurt too much if he just disappeared... if he was gone when I look back...

I've imagined what it would be like to meet my parents, of course, I have, but I never expected it to truly happen. I mean, it hadn't in fifteen years... so why now? And how? How does he know where I am? Why does he know?

My mind slowly began to run around me until my senses became numb as new thoughts crossed my mind at light speed. I couldn't hear anything around me, I couldn't see anything around me and I couldn't feel anything. All I saw were those bits and pieces of my childhood memories, like when I snuck into my nonna's room one of the times she was out and found a picture of my nonno_ (grandfather in Italian) _when he was younger under the bed with a few images of my nonna and my nonno when they were still married and a picture of my parents sitting above them. My parents were smiling and my dad had his arms wrapped around my mom with the goofiest smile I had ever seen, my mom had her eyes closed and was laughing with her dark brown hair falling on her face in a delicate manner.

Before my nonna got home, I hid the pictures again and swore to never tell her. Though, I guess she vouched for the same thing to herself since she never spoke of my parents. Well, she did. She told me a little bit about my mom, but nothing about my dad other than that she loved him very much and he'd be proud of me... that always made me think that he had passed away, but she just doesn't want to talk about it... but seeing this now... makes me think otherwise...

Suddenly, I began to feel tired and dizzy, and my body begged me to sit down. Everything felt like it was spinning, but I remained unable to see the world around me or hear it. My muscles felt heavy and after a while, it felt like I was falling. "Whoa! Be careful." Someone said from behind me, but my mind was so juggled up that I couldn't make out the voice, all I knew was that the person had their arms wrapped around my shoulders and my back, and was holding me steady.

"Hey man, now ain't the right time. Sorry." Yet another voice that I couldn't identify, though unlike the last one it wasn't behind me, it sounded like it was a few feet in front of me.

"I'm sorry, for disturbing, but I truly need to talk to her."

"Dude, it's obvious that you coming here isn't doing good or she wouldn't be like this."

"You don't understand, I-"

"Que mierda. Don't you understand? You're not supposed to be here."

"But I'm her-"

"We heard you're her dad."

"Look, man, you should just come back some other time... any **other** time."

Before anything else could be said, my mind felt like giving me senses back allowing me to finally identify all the voices and who spoke to who. The boys were trying to help me.

Pushing myself forward slightly, I felt Tye's grip tighten around me. "I'm fine. Don't worry." It was barely above a whisper which only showed how uneasy I still felt, but he didn't even try to object and allowed me to walk past the others. I stopped next to Virgil as we stood in front of my father. Mustering up all the courage I had within me, I forced my gaze upwards, ripping it away from the floor so that I could look at the man standing in our front door. "Why..." _'Louder.' _"Why are you..." _'Più forte, dannazione! (Louder, damnit!)' _"Why are you here?" My plan hasn't been to act tough, but it was the only thing that made me speak loud enough to be heard and not look weak.

"I wanted to see you... I know this might not be the best time, but-"

____________________________________________________________________

"He blocked me!"

"Huh?"

"The piece of shit blocked me!"

"What do you-"

"I can't see it anymore!"

"Val! Chill and explain it to me slowly. It's hard to understand you through a phone when you're rambling."

"The bastard blocked my powers! He's gonna do something stupid."

"And blocking your powers means?"

"I can't see the future when he's around and I can't see what he's gonna say or do! Aw, man, I'm so stupid!! I should have known when I first told you that he was going that we shouldn't let him! Fuck!"

"You're not serious..."

"Like hell, I'm not! He's gonna do something stupid that I didn't foresee!"

"But you already knew he was going so why didn't you think anything of it and-"

"Yeah! That's why the kid knows! Because I knew and I told you and you told her! But every time I try to get a glimpse into her future or to see what's up in his mind, I get cock-blocked into another mental human radio station!!"

"So you can't see anything that has to do with her?"

"Exactly! And I can't exactly leave Belle Reve to go and see what's going on either! Or to stop him from saying something he shouldn't!"

"I'll go."

"Like hell, you are- Spanish bimbo? Idiot? Blondie? Mariana?!" revealing no answer from the other line, the female threw the phone on the table and let out an annoyed scream. "Why don't these people listen to the fortune teller!?! Damn it!"

____________________________________________________________________

I don't know why, but we ended up allowing him inside even though the guys were still against the idea. They all stood either next to me or behind me as I had sat down in one of the couches opposite from my father. Sam sat on my left with her arms crossed, as she would, occasionally, look from me to my father before giving my shoulder a reassuring squeeze and going back to staring at him.

Tye was sitting on my right, staring directly at the man claiming to be my father. Unlike most of the time, his face was holding nothing but profound distrust and anger as if he was prepared to jump up and throw him out the door.

Virgil, Ed and Arsenal were all standing behind the sofa and they all held the same expression as Tye. Profound distrust and all of them looked just about ready to pounce. While, I, on the other hand, was just staring at him with an unrelated expression, forbidding myself from showing any type of weakness that could be taken advantage of.

The entire time he didn't seem fazed by the glares that were directed towards him and explained that he had help with finding out where I was, after some surprising news from my nonna which I found hard to believe. My disbelief of his claims got me to ask him what my nonna's name, age and favourite food was before asking what she used to call him as a child... he didn't falter and answered everything correctly without any sign of hesitation. I guess that everything that's happened up until now has finally caught up to me... not allowing me to trust immediately even though I really wanted to.

He explained that some friends helped him find out where I was and the reason why he was here... there's someone that wants to meet me and could help me, but didn't explain what he meant by "help" causing me to become more skeptical. But I could still feel my walls going down and crumbling as I was beginning to believe him...

But even with the forming trust, there was this feeling in my gut telling me not to listen to him. _"It's too early. Continue your skepticism and do not go with him. It's not the right time." _Maybe I should listen... but I'm not sure that I can... this is something I've wanted for years... and I finally got it... I'm meeting my dad and I don't want to leave this on a bad note... so maybe... maybe... I'll listen to him... just this once...

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"¡Pedazo de mierda andante! _(A/N: I'll let you imagine XD)"_

"Mariana? What are-"

"Gimme a minute, chica. I need to talk to this bastard." She grabbed my father's arm, pulled him away and went to talk to him far enough from me so that I couldn't hear, that is until she screamed. "What do you mean you were going to take her to see-" stopping almost immediately, Mariana shot me a small glance before speaking in a normal voice. She was hiding something.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapters every Weekend.  
Hope you enjoyed.  
Have a good day/night.


	35. Trust

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to try to post the next chapter either today or tomorrow tom, but I'm not sure how that'll work since I'm sick.

"And just where is this person that you want me to meet and that can inevitably "help" me?"

"Belle Reve Penitentiary." 

"I think I've heard of that place..." The name sounded familiar but I couldn't quite place it. Taking notice of my distress Arsenal was quick to intervene giving us info on the Penitentiary. 

"Its a high-security prison for super-villains and Meta-humans. They can't use their powers in there because of the inhibitor collars that are put around their necks." My head turned to look behind me as I nodded, taking in his information. "Not even Superman can break in since the walls are strong enough to withstand even his super-human strength."_ 'Why would my father want to take me there? I mean it's a prison... so what could I possibly want there?'_

"Why do you want to take Felicity to a high-security prison?"

"There's someone important there."

"Who? If the person is that important then you shouldn't have any problem in telling us."

"It's personal."

"You didn't seem to have any problem telling us everything else and we are not letting her go with you without answers." The murderous aura that surrounded Tye scared even me. He stopped leaning against the couch as he pushed himself forward waiting eagerly for my father's answer with his arms crossed and a scowl plastered on his face.

____________________________________________________________________

"Alright, drop me off here."

"You don't want us to know where they live, do you?"

"Of course, not. I'm not ratting those kids out to you, and don't even think about reading my mind either because you won't be able to."

"We wouldn't-"

"Of course, not! What a dumb idea!"

"Look, I'm sorry that we lied to you, but-"

"Oh, no, you don't. You people called me about three months ago to tell me that one of my best friends was dead and I've been in mourning since then. I had to push those thoughts away and stop mourning a few weeks ago since I needed to help a bunch of kids because you people failed to do so."

"Look we're sorry, but-"

"I'm not finished! And after all this shit, I find out that you all lied to me- no, not only to me but to everyone! Your whole team! Your families! Your friends! You **lied** to everyone. You allowed them to **mourn** for **no** reason. To **suffer** for **no** other reason than your_ it's for the greater good_ bullshit. That's unforgivable."

"..."

"And you people wonder why I left. As the years go by it's like you guys can only do shit. Gringos de mierda."

"Mariana you know it's not like that-"

"I don't want to hear it. Take the ship down."

____________________________________________________________________

A few hours later, and still no answer from the man sitting opposite from us. He just stood there silently studying our faces and reactions as he continued not answering the question of exactly why he wanted to take me to a High-security prison for super-villains and who he wanted me to meet which, quite honestly... was pissing us off...

From my left side, you could hear Tye's foot, tapping patiently on the floor as his patience ran thinner and thinner. Virgil, Ed, and Arsenal had, after getting tired of standing, sat down. Arsenal sat on the arm of the couch we were on while Virgil sat on the opposite arm from the same couch. Ed decided to, unlike the others, sit on the floor in front of us while leaning back on the couch since Sam had her legs close to her chest and feet on the couch.

It was an enraging silence that flew around us and I could feel my temper rising. With a loud huff, I finally made my decision. It took me longer than it should have, and I am perfectly well aware of that fact, but this was a hard decision to make... in my opinion, at least. I wasn't going to go with this man until I received an answer and a good one at that! Not just some sloppy, good for nothing, cheap-ass answer that you give children to shut them up so that they'll do what you want.

A shaky breath slipped past my lips as I thought of how to formulate my thoughts into actual physical words. I was gonna tell him. Whether he liked it or not, I was going to say it straight to his face. I was going to tell him: _I am not going with you until I get an answer! And if you don't have one then feel free to leave._

I could feel my adrenaline rise as my courage began to dissipate. I needed to say it before I lose all my courage and capability. _'Come on! It's not that hard! You already have a big mouth, so just say it!'_

Alright, I'm gonna stop over-thinking and I'll just come out and say it. It's now or never. The muscles on my face stiffened up as I forced my mouth open, allowing my thoughts to formulate into words and fly out into the air as an articulated sentence.

"I'll go with you." Wait, what?! I didn't say that... I... I couldn't have!_ 'Take it back! Take it back!'_ I was screaming, at the top of my lungs, as loud as I possibly could, but nothing came out... absolutely, nothing... not even a slight squeak or rugged breath... nada...

The next thing I knew, my father stood up with a smile on his face. "Glad we finally came to an agreement." _'We didn't! I didn't agree to go! I'm not going, not without an answer!'_ But even with my mental struggles, pleads and screams, my body didn't listen. It just stood up and followed after my father. An annoying and idiotic smile was plastered on my face as I made my way towards the door only to, thankfully, be stopped by a hand grabbing my wrist.

"¿Qué estás haciendo? (What are you doing?)" I stood unmoving for a few seconds without giving even the slightest explanation for my idiotic actions or showing that I understood his question. "Sé que usted me puede entender. ¡Ahora responde! (I know that you can understand me. Now answer!)" I wanted to... I really did, but no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't manipulate my mouth and make it listen to me...

All my muscles remained relaxed as my body tried to slowly escape from his grip, but there was no use. I couldn't shake his hand off causing a sigh to pass my lips as I turned to face the younger boy.

"Could you let me go, _please_?" My voice came out as sharp as a knife as if I was barking out an order, surprising the Argentinian boy and causing his grip to falter just long enough for me to rip my arm away and turn back towards the door.

Without sparing a single glance at my friends, my father and I left the apartment. _'What are you doing, ragazza stupida(stupid girl)!? Turn back!'_ And yet, again, my body defies my orders as it moves alongside my father, entering the elevator and allowing an uneasy silence to manifest itself as we slowly descended to the ground floor.

Once the elevator stopped I resumed my fight for dominance over my own body, trying to make it turn back and go home, but to no avail. It was as if I was blocked from my body's control system by some outside force that was keen on restraining my mind from commanding my body to do as I pleased, like go back to the apartment, for example.

We walked outside only to be greeted by the unkind wind that swirled around us with the intent of freezing us, though, my father didn't seem bothered. Unlike me, who was shivering like crazy without the slightest trace of any emotional expression on my face other the pure shade of nothingness.

"¡Pedazo de mierda andante! (A/N: I'll let you imagine XD)"

"Mariana? What are-"

"Gimme a minute, chica. I need to talk to this bastard." She grabbed my father's arm, pulled him away and went to talk to him far enough from me so that I couldn't hear, that is until she screamed. "What do you mean you were going to take her to see-" stopping almost immediately, Mariana shot me a small glance before speaking in a normal voice. She was hiding something.

Her sudden and unplanned appearance caused me to became oblivious of the fact that I was back in control. My mind was finally able to take back control over my actions and my words, as some kind of pressure vanished from my mind. Though even with that problem having been fixed, a new one was just being created before my very eyes without my knowledge.

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"Great. Now I'm surrounded by a bunch of angry women."

"You **comprehended** that this wasn't the right time! Yet, you did it anyway!"

"The kid needed to know! And it's not like you were going to tell her any time soon."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapters every Weekend.  
Hope you enjoyed and have a nice day.


	36. Desperation

My feet felt heavy as I walked into the building and towards the elevator. They barely even left the ground as I took slow and cautious steps. My hands dangled from my sides, lifelessly swinging from side to side in order to follow my body's swaying movements. I held my head down and made no effort to tear my fixated gaze from the floor to the elevator doors once I stood in front of them.

Mariana left just a few minutes before I walked back inside. We stood outside talking for about four literal hours while sitting on the front steps of the building, with her apologizing more times than necessary, saying that I shouldn't have found out the way I did, that she shouldn't have said anything, and that this should have only been revealed when I was older and more mature. In other words, I would have found all this out in seventy-seven years.

All the information she gave me after boomtubing my... _father_... away, was shocking, to say the least, and I, honestly, wasn't prepared for it:

_My body itched to go home as my muscles begged me to go back into the building and away from the cold, shallow, dimly lighted streets. My fingers twitched every now and again, while my foot tapped nervously on the ground as the information hit me like a bullet right in the chest. Every word that left Mariana's mouth would immediately get sucked in by my ears as my brain tried to re-arrange everything she said so that I could make sense of all this... it wasn't working..._

_I knew what she was saying and it wasn't hard to understand the meaning, especially when it's said straight to your face. Mariana has always been an honest person and she's always been straightforward, but at the moment, I wish she wasn't._

_"Chica, are you alright?" As much as I'd like to answer yes, that would be a lie. I wasn't alright. I felt stupid and betrayed, even though, the decision to leave wasn't actually mine, and I was mind played, I still felt misled. "I'm sorry that you had to find out like this... no, I'm sorry that we even allowed him to come..."_

_Unlike last time, I answered. In a low and hard to understand voice, but I answered. "It's not your fault." Raspiness, that was the only noticeable trait that you could identify in my voice as it laced itself around it, warding off the stuttering and sadness._

Bringing my lifeless hand up, I pressed down on the grey, metallic button that was now losing its shine and called the man-made piece of machinery down to my floor.

As it came down, you could hear the small creaks and screeches that erupted from it. Once it stopped, a small _pling_ came from within it before opening ever so slowly, giving me a free passageway inside, only for it to close five seconds after I walked in and pressed the button to the seventh floor.

The wait within the machine felt like a century moving at a snail's pace, though, of course, it couldn't compare to what I had found out and how long it took for the truth to be revealed to me:

_Before I even had time to register my now free body and mind, Mariana brought out a fatherbox and pointed it towards my father. "Belle Reve Penitentiary." As soon as the words left her mouth the fatherbox shone its orange light and a boomtube appeared beneath my father's feet. "Have fun explaining this to her." And with those words said and done, Mariana casually watched as my father fell through the golden, bright portal._

_I stood shocked for a slight moment but quickly snapped out of it_ _, _ _when_ _my throat felt dry and my feet kicked off the ground. "What did you do?!" I screamed in desperation as I ran towards her. Once my feet stopped, I stood in front of her. Mouth slightly a gap as shock and confusion overtook my senses. "Why?! What?! Uh- I- why?..."_

_Taking my shoulders gently Mariana, got down to her knees, pushing me down with her slowly. "I'm sorry, chica... but... that was not your father... it was a lie to get you to go with him... that man was your uncle..."_

_And then it stopped. It all stopped. My brain stopped and I h_ _eard _ _something inside of my head break like a stick. I had no reaction, no physical reaction that could tell what I felt or if I even heard. I just stood there, staring in dead silence, mouth still a gap, strands of hair falling on my face, undone and messy braid, neutral eyebrows and stormy eyes._

_Funny how the moment my entire reality is shattered, Lex Luthor's voice is the one that rings through my mind with only one phrase, "I was... friends, with your father... before his passing." And just like that fragments of reality that I hoped were never real traveled through my _ _head_ _, like that one time I saw her crying in the middle of the night, holding a picture against her chest and whispering, "It was too soon... my sweet bambino..." It was at this moment that I realized that my father truly had passed away... I had hope... but it was go_ _ne_ _ now... _ ** _he_ ** _ was gone... forever..._

As a way to grab my attention, the elevator doors opened allowing me to step out as they closed behind me. Bringing my head up just a little, I took in the long, dump looking hallway that only seemed to get longer and longer with every blink of an eye. I knew it was just my imagination playing tricks on me, but I didn't want to stay out here any longer... I just wanted to go back into the apartment and cry myself to sleep... so I ran.

I could feel the world around me narrowing as the door got further away, causing the feelings of nervousness, desperation, and bitterness to bubble up inside me. I could feel the pressure in my chest as it slowly and forcefully came up my throat, preparing to let out a blood-curdling scream of despair.

But right before that happened, the door opened and I went face first into someone's chest just as the person wrapped their hands around my arms. "Told you she was there."  
___________________________________________________________________

"Great. Now I'm surrounded by a bunch of angry women."

"You **comprehended** that this wasn't the right time! Yet, you did it anyway!"

"The kid needed to know! And it's not like you were going to tell her any time soon."

"These are hard things to say... I know how fragile she can be... so... I wanted to wait..."

"She would never be stronger if you continued hiding it from her."

"Oh, yeah and acting like your her dad made it all better!"

"Hey! Respect your father, Valerie!"

"No, the bambina is right, you shouldn't have acted like her father... you shouldn't have acted like my son..."

"Granny..."

"It's alright. I will take my leave now. It was great seeing you again Valerie and you too Mariana..." Both girls quickly got onto their feet, hugged the elderly lady and bid her a tender goodbye. The woman took her leave but stopped with one last saddened glance at the male.

Once gone and out of sight, both turned back to the man leaning back on his chair as a somewhat pleased expression crossed his features. "You're full of shit, you know that?"

"I didn't want to hurt the old hag, but I'm a sadist so, what do you expect? Happy unicorn cupcakes with a little bit of iceberry sugar on top?"

"No. But next time dial it back... like a lot!"

"Look, I know it may not seem like it, but I do care for your uncle's side of the family... even if I'm not good at showing it."

"You're not."

"I know."

"Hey, Val... why did Felicity think that... _he_ was her father?"

"I mean, who knows... coincidence maybe... or..." The older male stopped once he felt the penetrating glares both females were shooting in his direction. "... I may or not... have distorted some images from her childhood by switching her dad's face with my own."

Blinking in surprise the eldest female shot up from her seat, alerting everyone in the high-security prison that she was not just mad, but absolutely enraged beyond redemption. "You did what?!"

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"Kanojo wa tabemasen... (She won't eat...) I don't know what do..."

I heard an annoyed sigh coming from behind me before Tye answered. "I'll talk to her." And within seconds he stood in front of me, covering my vision to the outside world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapters every weekend.  
Hope you have a good day/night.  
And hope you enjoyed.


	37. Apathic

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for the late publishing of the chapter!  
I'll try to get the second chapter out today, but I can't promise anything.

_"I was... friends, with your father... before his passing."_

_"I'm sorry, chica... but... that was not your father... it was a lie to get you to go with him... that man was your uncle..."_

_"You look and sound just like your mother, but with your father's nose."_

_"It was too soon... my sweet bambino..."_

_"I'm going to meet my mamma and my papa. Right, nonna?"_

_"Your mother? Well, when I first met her, she had a wild spirit just like your father... I guess that's why they got along so well since the very beginning..."_

I felt like I was drowning even though the only source of water was kilometres away from me. Every word that flew around me stung like a bullet that stabbed through my skin faster than the eye could see, forcefully trying to push me over the edge while the person with the gun just watched in satisfaction, as they forced me too re-live what I've been running from for years... what I hoped wasn't true... what I found out was reality...

_"...Dad?"_

_"Claire!"_

_"Ah, the meat bag won't talk. You know, no free will."_

_"I never met my parents... I've heard of them... mostly about my mom, but never actually met them."_

_"He's after me... please, I need your help..."_

_"I'm the one who should be sorry. I forced you to come with me... I made you fight your own sister... I... I... I'm sorry... it's all my fault..."_

Opening my eyes I stared at the plain white ceiling. The thoughts that fought to consume me were getting stronger and it felt like they were just desperate voices that wanted to leave the back of my mind in order to have easier access to the torment they wanted to put me through.

With a forceful shove, I pushed them to the back of my mind and placed a lock and key over them... for the time being, that is... until they found a way to break through again.

As the peaceful silence overtook my mind, I counted how long it had been since that Godforsaken day. One... two... three... four... five... six... six days have passed. In other words, almost a full week... I've spent almost an entire week in this measly white-walled room, staring blankly at everything around me... _'Pathetic...' _Ignoring the world outside of my self-pity... my self-loathing...

During this entire time period, I've felt alone, stupid and just plain old pathetic. I knew that what happened wasn't my fault, but I wasn't even strong enough to stop it, to save myself or to keep control of my mind, my body... my actions...

Finding out that my father was gone, that I'd never get a chance to meet him and that the man I met was not the one I've dreamt of meeting, but a fake... those are the things that hurt the most... not my lack of psychological strength. Not my weakness to fight back. Not the disappointments of these last few weeks, even though, they still stung like hell. No, it was finding out how easy it is to have your world shatter into a million pieces after countless misfortunes, that followed after each other, not missing the first chance at causing trouble. It was finding out how quickly everything can go wrong. It's finding out that your worst nightmare can become reality...

I know that this reaction isn't the one I should be having, but I didn't really care... not right now, at least...

"Felishity? _(A/N: I find this an adorable way of pronouncing her name.)" _A soft voice broke through my soundproof barrier trying to, ever so kindly, get my attention. "Are you hungry?"

But, I didn't answer. I didn't even look. I just maintained eye contact with the ceiling, not caring about what was going on around me or who spoke. They knew what my answer was going to be, with or without me answering. I wasn't hungry and I haven't been for the past few days. Sure, I've eaten a little, but I mostly just stare at the food and take less than half off of the plate before forcing myself into slumber.

I also haven't really spoken to anyone, even though, I was and am, well aware that I'm probably worrying them... My way of answering any questions being only a nod, a shake of the head or just pure ignorance. Sure, I knew, at the very least, what was going on around me. I just didn't show any interest. I didn't even say anything or react when I felt someone pick me up, take me to the living room and set me down on the couch.

I heard mixed voices behind me and, as per usual, chose to ignore them. There was a flock of birds passing by our windows so, like the pitiful person I am, I decided to watch them fly away... away from their problems... away from here... with every chance at being free... until someone found a way to put them in a cage... or shoot them down...

"Kanojo wa tabemasen... (She won't eat...) I don't know what to do..."

I heard an annoyed sigh coming from behind me before Tye answered. "I'll talk to her." And within seconds he stood in front of me, covering my vision to the outside world... from the flock of birds that silently flew away.

But, even so, I didn't move my head to look him straight in the eyes, instead, I stared through him as if he wasn't there. I know, I shouldn't and I should show some sign of response, but I couldn't bring myself to do so... I stopped caring if I seemed weak or if my problems were becoming too obvious... I mean... I care... obviously, but I just can't bring myself to show it...

"Felicity, look at me." No movement. No answer. "Felicity." Nothing. "Look at me!" Grabbing my shoulders roughly, Tye forced me to look up at him. His voice didn't rise, not even a little. If anything, it got lower as his order threw itself into my brain.

"... Ow..." That's the first thing I've said in days, and it was barely above a whisper. A chocked out whisper that scratched my throat.

"Stop ignoring us." Maintaining eye contact with him was hard especially since I knew that he wouldn't let me look away until this was fixed and I started listening, but even so, I just stared blankly into his eyes. Hopefully, he would leave me alone... "You're getting everyone worried by not wanting to eat and by staying cooped up in your room without saying a word or even looking at us."

I continued staring without answering. "I don't think she's listening..."

"She is. She just doesn't want to show it."

"How do we-"

"This is stupid!"

"Ed, what do-"

"We get what you're going through, but come on!"

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Looking up at the Argentinian boy, I felt a lump form itself in my throat as his words hit me. "I... I'm sor-" Before I even had time to react, the words were already running out my mouth, causing more pain to shoot up my throat.

"And don't apologize for how you feel either! It's not like it's your fault that you feel the way you do! But it is your fault that you still feel like that. You're not doing anything to make yourself feel better! You've just been sitting there looking... destruida... for the past week!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapters every weekend.  
Hope you enjoyed and have a nice day/night.


	38. Remorse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let’s just ignore the fact that I’m publishing this one day too late.  
I’m sorry for how long this took, but my last school week has been packed with tests. This week though, I’m free.

A pen and a blank book... those were the two things that sat in front of me, resting neatly on the dining room table just waiting for the words to start flowing. _'Write something. Write anything.'_

This wasn't new, nor was it surprising. No, all this was, was nostalgic. All that me trying to writing did was leave a small seed of nostalgia in the pit of my stomach. I knew what I wanted to be said, but I just didn't know how to translate it into an actual word currency. 

Sighing profoundly, I grabbed the pen and opened the book. Taking the pen and hovering it over a random blank page, I stopped just inches away. _'Just write something, a random word will do.' _Blinking in annoyance, I watched my hand forcefully collide the pen with the paper, scribbling down random words.

_Sadness_

_Fear_

_Pain_

_Annoying_

_Melancholy_

_Nostalgia_

_Death_

_Boring_

_Friendship_

_Betrayal_

_I miss you..._

When I finally caught sight of the words that were pressed firmly onto the paper, I stopped dead in my tracks and took them all in. They either had to do with how I felt or with things that happened... during these past months... _'Wow... I really am... pitiful...'_

_I didn't pay attention to the words that were being spat out in my direction, or at least, I maintained that facade... until I no longer could._

_I stared at Tye, not daring to look away as the Argentinian boy's words hit me repeatedly. They felt like a slap in the face, given by the harsh truth of reality._

_"We know how you feel! But if you keep acting this way you might as well be dead! It'll pretty much be the same thing!"_

_Breathing deeply, I fought back the tears that threatened to spill from my eyes. I knew he was right... I knew there was no use in denying it or in trying to give myself reason, but I couldn't stop the feelings and the thoughts that overtook all of my senses... that tried their hardest to remind me of everything... that took pleasure in telling me that this was my reality._

_I felt stupid for feeling this way. I knew some people had it harder; people who went through worse things than me... It was probably selfish of me to even feel this way... but this wasn't my choice, and even if it was... I didn't know how to take it back..._

Drawing the pen back, I stopped writing once more. Though, this time, unlike the last, they weren't just loose words that floated around the paper, disconnected from each other. They all stood together, setting the events that took place not even one day ago in stone.

Taking a deep breath, I resumed my writing, slowly and shakily imprinting the inky words into the paper as a method of cooperation with my own doubts and thoughts.

_Once Ed noticed that I was ignoring him, he continued. "We know that it hurts! But that's no reason to treat yourself like that!! Starving yourself and ignoring us isn't going to help! It's just going to make things worse and make you look and sound more pitiful."_

_Looking up at the Argentinian boy, I felt a lump form itself in my throat as his words hit me. "I... I'm sor-" Before I even had time to react, the words were already running out my mouth, causing more pain to shoot up my throat._

_"And don't apologize for how you feel either! It's not like it's your fault that you feel the way you do! But it is your fault that you still feel like that. You're not doing anything to make yourself feel better! You've just been sitting there looking... destruida... for the past week!"_

_"Hey, man... uh..."_

_Ignoring Virgil's attempt at getting the tension in the air to go away, he continued. "Some of us have had it just as hard as you... and believe me, everything that you're doing... building up walls, ignoring us, running from your problems and this reality... it won't help... it'll just make it worse..." Brushing Virgil's hand off his shoulder, Ed turned his back to us and left._

That's when I realised what he meant. Everyone in our group has gone through hell, be it before or after our abduction, and it was selfish of me to react the way I did when they've been trying their very hardest to help me even though they, themselves, are still fighting against their own turmoils of emotions and traumas.

His words made me feel selfish, bothersome and guilty. I've helped put the others through hell, rejecting their offers of help and ignoring them, making it look like I didn't care or need their help when, in reality, it was the complete opposite.

_"Hana?" Asami's voice flew into my ears as she tried to get my attention, but I didn't budge. My eyes focused solemnly on the colourful scenario outside the window as the sunset, running away into its peaceful slumber, and I made no move to pry them away from the scene that unfolded before my eyes. "Anata wa, nini no yori yoi kanjimasu ka? (Do you feel any better?)" With my head still turned away from her, I pushed my legs further into my chest as my arms grip around them tightened._

_She stood there for a few more minutes, hoping that I'd turn around and answer. Asami didn't like being forceful, and she'd back down if she felt like she was intruding which she wasn't... the only problem was that I didn't want to talk. All I wanted was to be left alone. Alone to think about everything... just think..._

I know that I'm not going to be alright any time soon, but, at the very least, I can try to cooperate with them and accept their help. _‘Actually talking__ to them, sounds like a good place to start..’ _I was going to try it... tomorrow...

Placing the pen down inside the book, I closed it and pushed my chair back, and with a disheartened grunt, I shakily hoisting myself up onto my feet.

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"You're good at writing, aren't you?"

"I mean, I guess so... why?"

With a loud groan, he dropped his head onto his hands. "This is going to sound **so** cheesy."

His answer piqued my curiosity, and with my brows furrowed and a taunting smile on my face, I looked at him. "What?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ne chapters are (hopefully) published every weekend.  
Thanks for reading.  
Hope you have a good day/night.


	39. Nostalgia (Pt.1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I sincerely apologise for not publishing the chapters last week!  
My inspiration has been running low on fuel, but it's returned now!  
I'm currently finishing up the next chapter, and I'm going to try to publish it today (If not then it'll be out tomorrow. Promise!)  
Not totally sure if anyone is even reading this seeing as I've not been keeping up with my schedule. (I mean, I know of two people XD THANKS, GUYS!!)

_"Hey, kid, wake up so that I can get you out of this cycle of misery."_

_The whisper echoed loudly in my head, throwing its order straight into my nervous system, resulting in me shooting up from my comfortable sleeping position with my eyes wide open, scanning every inch of the room. No one. There was no one in here, other than me..._

_I remained unmoving for a few seconds as I paid close attention, checking to see if the voice came back or if it was just a dream. 'Probably just a dream...'_

_"I'm not a dream, kid, now get up." Goosebumps spread themselves over my skin as the voice spoke once more. Loudly and plainly denying my first thought._

_Before I had time to process what had been said to me, I found myself standing in front of mine and Asami's bedroom door with my hand already on the doorknob, holding the now open door steadily next to me._

_On the other side of the door, everything was covered in darkness due to there being no existent light source, natural or man-made, hindering my vision unusable. Narrowing my eyes, I tried to get them accustomed to the dark so that I wouldn't, by any chance, kick or fall over something, and with a slow, unsteady step forward, I stepped into the living room as the room door slammed shut behind me, causing wind to fly past and more goosebumps to form on my skin._

_No sound left my mouth after the door closed, not even a slight squeak of terror or surprise. Just the stiffening of my shaky body as my hands grabbed the sides my shorts. 'What's going on?'_

_"You know, if you just stand there looking all scared and depressed, you're not gonna get over this, so keep walking." Every word spoken was another shiver down my spine and a punch in my gut. And as if their words weren't enough, the person behind the voice thought it would be a good idea to push me forward so that I'd move. I ended up skidding onto the floor before the person behind the voice helped me to my feet. "Sorry kiddo, but you gotta move, if you don't leave this little bubble of sadness and self-pity, you're gonna bring everyone else down with you, and we can't have that."_

_With a less forceful shove, the person got me to start walking. I was still shaking and unsteady, but I was walking. It was odd... not the walking, but the fact that it felt like the room was getting bigger and bigger, and the furniture was getting further and further away... and, honestly, I was already getting tired. Even though I haven't walked for more than three minutes, I felt drained, and I wanted to stop and lie down on the floor._

_"C'mon kid, don't go giving up now. The heart-wrenching shit hasn't even started yet." Swinging lightly from side to side, I could feel my legs giving out as I began to fall to the side only to be caught by the owner of the voice. "Alright, maybe that wasn't the most motivational thing to say, but, in my defence, I'm not your little Argentinian friend." They had already helped me standstill when they mentioned Ed. I didn't have any visible reaction, but you could hear my breath hitch. "Good, I got your attention. The kid gave a good... speech... you should listen."_

_Even with me knowing that it would hurt my throat, I opened my mouth and spoke, or tried to, at least. "I- did..." I was correct, the feeling of knives slicing the inside of my throat irrupted from it almost immediately after the words left my lips, which made me regret talking... just a little._

_"I know you listened, but that's not what I mean. Listening with your ears is good, but you need to actually listen with your heart... that sounded so weird once said out loud." I remained silent as the person spoke. I understand what they meant, but everything just bounced off after a few seconds. I could only maintain focus for so long, and seeing as my mind has been spaced out for so long... I've become unaccustomed to focusing._

_Everything around us was still shrouded in thick darkness, but they continued guiding me with somewhat gentle shoves forward or to the sides. Their hands didn't let go of my back or my arms even for a second serving as an extra layer of protection and anticipation in case I begin falling._

_We continued walking for a few more minutes until the person stopped and, with a sigh, began speaking. Immediately, I thought they were about to proclaim their annoyance with my silence, but that wasn't the case. "You know... it's funny to see how you're mind is organized. Gives me a weird sense of nostalgia... like being in an old bookstore combined with a music store." Their voice became extraordinarily lively and giddy as they tried to lighten the mood by explaining to me what they saw in my not so organised mind. They even managed to make me crack a smile with one of their first thoughts: "Oh, look, headphones in a toilet... how convenient." Reminding me of some of the headphones that I somehow managed to drown in a toilet. Don't ask... it's unexplainable._

_But, of course, like every moment, this one was short-lived as they abruptly stopped talking_ _,_ _ and the environment around me changed. The darkness around me shifted ever so slowly as voices erupted from it._

_"Things are never going back to normal... are they?"_

_"Don't think so..."_

_"Gah! Dude! The fu-"_

_"You're too young to swear!"_

_"I'm fifteen!"_

_"Too young!"_

_"Fine."_

_The familiar sound of two people jokingly bickering surrounded me, causing my senses to perk up as I tried to identify where I've heard this before._

_"How'd you sneak out?"_

_"I opened the door and walked out, duh."_

_'This conversation sounds familiar...' Not even a moment later, a scene began to play out in front of me as all the colours took shape. The event... surprised me as it was one that took place only a few days before we ran away... from Star..._

_Laughing loudly, Virgil hopped onto the other side of the window seal and answered. "Well, obviously you'd leave through the door, but how'd you sneak past security, and after_ _-hours_ _ too?" Shushing his noisy question, I smiled._

_"I was quiet. Something that you _ ** _obviously_ ** _ aren't."_

_Faking a hurt expression, he placed his hand over his heart dramatically. "Oh, ouch. That one hit deep." His dramatic answer made me put my hands over my mouth so that I wouldn't laugh loudly and draw attention to the waiting room we sat in. "So... why'd you sneak out anyway?"_

_"Needed fresh air. You?"_

_"I heard you and thought I'd see if everything was fine."_

_"Oh, thanks," I remembered how awkward I got after that, _ _ thanks _ _. I ended up shifting my gaze from him to the starry sky._

_The awkward silence that followed was extraordinarily uncomfortable, prompting me to cringe inwardly. _

_As a way to try and lighten the mood, Virgil spoke. "You're good at writing, aren't you?"_

_"I mean, I guess so... why?"_

_With a loud groan, he dropped his head onto his hands. "This is going to sound _ ** _so_ ** _ cheesy... or stupid..."_

_His answer piqued my curiosity, and with my brows furrowed and a taunting smile on my face, I looked at him. "What?"_

_Sighing, Virgil stopped his playful drama as his face became serious. "You know, how you told me that you had never met your... parents?" Watching as my face fell and lost all its mischief, he quickly proceeded, "I'm not saying this to be intrusive, but it's obvious that you're not... uh... happy... and you had also said that writing made you feel better... so..."_

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"I'm fine, Sam, don't worry." I tried to play this situation off as nothing of any importance, but my constant hiccuping, high pitched voice and body tremble denied my claim.

Sighing profoundly, she went to sit beside me before placing her hand on my back and letting me lean my head on her shoulder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not sure, if the schedule will be followed, but for now the new chapters are published every weekend.  
Thank you for reading.  
Hope you enjoyed and have a good day/night.


	40. Nostalgia (Pt.2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright! So screw my schedule! It’s completely dead!   
New chapters will now be published every week, but I don’t have a specific day or time for them anymore (since I obviously can’t follow my own damned schedule).

_Virgil's words hit me deep as the entire conversation replayed slowly in my mind, allowing the memories to come flooding back. I'll be honest it hurt... it really, really did, but even so, I could feel my body move on its own as I slowly got closer to the scene in front of me. I probably looked like an idiot leaning forward like this... looking like a simple spectator that watched the events unfold from the sidelines since I wasn't physically nor mentally in my body._

_But just before the boy finished his thought process, the scene changed. Ever so conveniently, cutting him off at the part I most needed to hear..._

_For the first few seconds, no shapes took form as the colours just floated around in the white abyss, aimlessly searching for their spot. The world around me stood silent for just a moment before I heard a familiar Japanese nickname._

_"Hana?"_

_And, finally, the image took form, showing to the world another pitiful and devastated version of me. I sat below the window, facing the door with my head in my knees and my arm pulling my legs closer to my chest. Asami's voice rang softly through the room, but I didn't move. You could hear the low hiccups that erupted from my small form, followed by my intense trembling as each sound left my lips._

_I remembered this as well... It was after we fought Black Beetle and after the... the Claire thing... I can't say that I'm over it yet because I'm not, but at that point in time, I was worse... I guess._

_I remember that Asami had caught me at a particular moment that I hadn't expected her to. I had given an excuse about being tired so that I could go to the room because I felt the urgent need to cry. The whole situation with Claire ended with my emotions getting all over the place and only quite recently had I managed to somewhat sort them out until the fake dad situation, where my emotions and feelings felt like spiralling out of control all over again._

_"I'm fine, Sam, don't worry." I tried to play this situation off as nothing of any importance, but my constant hiccuping, high pitched voice and body tremble denied my words._

_Sighing profoundly, she went to sit beside me before placing her hand on my back and letting me lean my head on her shoulder._

_And once more, just as quickly as the scene manifested, it disappeared. Only to be replaced with a different one, this one though, took less time to appear as it quickly sketched itself out and in just a few seconds I found myself in the Star Labs’ "training room”, watching myself look around with a bored expression on my face before being interrupted by Nate. I missed him..._

_"Morning, Felicity."_

_"Morning, Nate."_

_"Hey... uh... I saw you sneaking into Tye's room last night. Is everything ok?"_

_"Wh- Why wouldn't it be?"_

_With a small sigh, he placed his hand on my shoulder, squeezing it lightly before continuing. "I also heard you screaming in your room... did you... have another one?" Looking down at the ground, I reluctantly nodded. "I'm not trying to be... intrusive... but if you need to talk, don't hesitate to ask."_

_"Thanks. And uh... if you also need to talk, I'm always open for convos." He nodded and smiled._

_Squeezing my shoulder one last time, Nate went to sit down on the bench, waiting for Dr. Wilcox to appear and allowing me to think. I watched myself fiddle mindlessly with the bodysuit I had on as my mind slowly detached itself from worldly concerns. Until I was, once more, interrupted._

_"Hey, you in there?" Tye's hand waved up and down in front of my face as he tried to get my attention._

_I was so lost in thought that it took him a few more tries to get my attention, but when he did, he was met with a loud screech, arms flying around and punching the air as I took a step back in a defensive mode. "Sorry! I didn't hear you..."_

_"It's fine. You feeling better since last night?"_

_It took both, memory me and present me a few minutes to understand his question. Feeling better? From what? Then it clicked in my memory self's brain._

_I quickly nodded and looked at my feet while fiddling with my braid. "Yeah, I'm fine. And... uh... I'm sorry about bothering you last night..."_

_"It's fine. We all have nightmares." Nightmares? What nightmares? And then it clicked. Nate's questions and Tye's... they were asking the same thing! This scene took place about one week after we were rescued from the Reach. I had had some nightmares due to the experiments during our abduction, but they ended up going away... not because I had gotten over the trauma, obviously not, but they just... stopped._

_Though, interestingly enough, the torture that I went through when I was in their slimy alien hands, isn't something that bothers me anymore... maybe it's just because I have other things on my mind or just because they aren't as important anymore, I didn't know... honestly, all I know is that I still am scared of the Reach and hold a lot of hatred towards them, but the torture isn't something that I think about... at least, I thought I didn't..._

_Tye didn't have any physical contact like Nate did, squeezing my shoulder reassuringly or anything like that, but he still tried to, in his own way, reassure me that he understood and that I shouldn't apologise. "Thanks..." He gave me a curt nod before walking over to Nate and sitting down._

_Watching this... these scenes made a pang of guilt fly through my heart. It was bad enough that they were pulling on my heartstrings, but having the feelings hit me in the face once more... was worse. My friends, since the very beginning, have been trying to help me... and I became so comfortable around them that my feelings became more and more exposed... I made an effort in the beginning to hide them and to not be a burden... but as time went on... I stopped... giving my emotions the chance to cause havoc._

_"So, how do you feel?" The words flew in just as fast as they flew out. The voice didn't belong to any of my friends nor to anyone I knew, so I didn't react. "Those were the three main topics and reasons as to why you feel so... Uh... messed up, right?" Silence. "Look, I don't mean to sound rude or anything like that... but getting you to re-live your memories and old emotions seemed like a good place to start. You were comforted... sort of... during these three moments by the people who care for you..." I knew what they were trying to do and I understood what they meant, and maybe they were correct to show me and made me relive everything, but at the same time, they just made me feel worse. ”You have to snap out of this cycle of sadness and self-pity, or else you're going to bring everyone else down with you.”_

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When their words began to sink in, I began to feel trapped, and so, I struggled against their grip. The guilt was starting to manifest itself in my chest, causing it to tighten and my breathing to become ragged. This can't be my fault! How can one person cause this?! No... it couldn't... I-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapters every week.  
Thanks for reading.  
Have a good day/night.


	41. Prediction

Holographic Statues/ Memories (last chap name).

_I didn't answer them. I already understood and knew all of this! Repeating the same thing over and over again isn't going to do anything! It's just annoying! It just makes me feel more and more guilty... I already understood that I needed to stop and change, and I was- **am** going to, but it's not something that I can do from one day to the other without faking everything... which would be extremely obvious. I don't want to bring everyone else down with me or to make them feel miserable, but I need time to figure this out... that, to me, is the second stage of grieving... we suffer first and figure things out later..._

_Seeing as I wasn't answering, the person resumed their speech. "Alright, I know I got through to you quite a while ago, and I know that you understand what I'm saying..." They sounded almost desperate and regretful as they stopped, took a breath, and continued. "You understand my warning... but this isn't just going to affect your friends that spend every single day around you..." Stopping once more, I felt them place their hands on my shoulders, squeezing them slightly. "I can't believe I'm doing this..."_

_In an instant, the darkness dissipated and a new scene formed itself in front of me though, this time, it wasn't a memory. It showed me sitting in my bed with my blankets wrapped around my shoulders as I stared at the ceiling, and Asami in her bed with her back against the wall as she silently read a book, glancing at me ever so often. After a few seconds, it changed to different parts of the house; first, it showed Virgil and Tye's room. They were in their beds, talking to each other. Then, it changed again, showing Ed in his bedroom with his phone in hand and an annoyed expression slowly growing on his face before he chucked the phone to the other side of the room. It changed once more to show Arsenal standing in what seemed to be a small forest in space, staring up at two holograms... one showed Kid Flash posing victoriously and the other... Mariana, holding and leaning onto her bat with one hand while the other stood on her hip and a slightly smug expression on her face._

_I suddenly felt uneasy as I stared at the holograms. I could feel my stomach churn as nervousness began to build up in my throat. "What is this?"_

_"This is one of the possible future outcomes that might become a reality if you continue allowing yourself to grieve... uh... this way... but I'm not, in any way, saying that you shouldn't grieve or feel like shit after all you've been through, but you have to stop and think... for more than five seconds, that is, about the consequences of your actions, even if not done on purpose, these things might still happen..."_

_When their words began to sink in, I began to feel trapped, and so, I struggled against their grip. The guilt was starting to manifest itself in my chest, causing it to tighten and my breathing to become ragged. This can't be my fault! How can one person cause this?! No... it couldn't... I-_

_"Hey... hey! Hey! Snap out of it!" Still not allowing me to see them, the person continued. "I never said that the fault was yours, but if you don't stop and think for a second... this WILL happen." My idiocy caused Mariana to... to... caused my best friend's older sister to... just because of me? Because of my choices? My reactions? I knew that I was hurting my friends by shutting them out, but I don't know any other way to react. I'm not the absolute best at talking about my feelings if everyone will just pity me in the end... but I never, in my wildest dreams- or nightmares, would have thought that my reactions would result in this kind of outcome..._

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A wave of shock spread through my body as my consciousness returned, and my eyes shot open. I was drenched in sweat, my heart was going wild, beating crazily within my chest, and I was breathing heavily. Taking a deep breath and with my hands holding tightly onto my loose pyjama blouse, I tried to normalise my breathing.

"You, ok?" Stopping momentarily, I allowed my mind to rationalise and process the fact that there was someone else with me, and that I was, unknowingly leaning against the said person since they were sited next to me.

I silently turned my head to look at the person. It was Eduardo. He didn't look mad or annoyed, just neutral. I wasn't sure how to react, so I ended up having a staring contest with him for what felt like an eternity. You know, until my eyes began to cry because I wasn't closing them. After what felt like another eternity, I shut my eyes, opened them and started blinking non-stop, forcing the burning sensation to a halt. 

"H-Hi," I said with a wave. _'Stupid.'_ I probably looked and sounded dumb. I was sure that he was still mad at me, even if his face didn't physically show it, which only made me uneasy. His lack of response wasn't exactly helping either, I didn't know what else to say other than apologising which would, surely, piss him off, and I wasn't very keen on reentering the staring contest, so I forced myself into a sitting position, scooted away from him and began to fiddle with my fingers awkwardly.

"How do you feel?"

"Pardon?" I mentally facepalmed, I sounded so freaking stupid.

"You fainted." Raising a brow, I looked at him._ 'I fainted? I could have sworn I went to bed.'_ "I was going to call Tye to take you to your room, but you weren't letting go. So I've been waiting for you to wake up for the past hour." I could feel my eyes widening as the words left his mouth.

"Sorry."

"It's whatever." And cue the defining, awkward silence. I could practically feel the tension grow as neither of us spoke. That uncomfortable moment of silence that only lasts a few seconds at max, but feels like two hundred years has begun.

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"I really am sorry though... about all of this. My reactions and... and just everything in general." It felt as if I was growing smaller with each word that I spoke.

Giving me one last look, he nodded, bid me goodnight, and went to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapters every week. No specific day.  
Thanks for reading.  
Hope you enjoyed.  
Have a good day/night.


	42. Understanding

If you walk through the penitentiary at night, you were usually met with the sound of rough snores or soft prison-break-out plans being muttered under someone's breath. Well, that was how each night often went, but unlike every other peaceful night, this one, in particular, was disrupted by the sudden realization of a mistake made by one of the inmates. "You just screwed the future, didn't you? Stupid!! Stupid! I should have kept my mouth shut!" Grasping her short hair in aspiration, the female paced impatiently from one side of the cell the other, ignoring the constant banging on the walls and floors of the cells surrounding her, and the yells of her fellow inmates that ordered her to shut up as none of it made it into her ears due to her worries growing exponentially as her most recent actions became more conscious. "Kid, please, for all that is most important to us, don't screw this up because of my big mouth..."

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"So... uh..." Here starts my pathetic attempt at beginning a conversation, which for the record, I am terrible at doing. 

"Sorry.” 

"What?"

"..." It looked like he was battling with himself to finish. "For screaming yesterday."

"I... I... it's fine. I understand your reaction... you had- have every right... guess I just... just didn't- don't know how to react..."

"You have a good reason for reacting that way."

"I still shouldn't have. I shouldn't have shut you guys out. I-" I stopped, searching for the correct words, but Ed was quick to place a hand on my shoulder in reassurance.

"I get it." I looked at him for a moment. "I acted the same way..."

"What?"

Sighing and taking his hand away, he moved to look away from me. "When I was a kid, my dad used to visit me, sometimes. He never stayed longer then a day, if it even got to twenty-four hours."

"That's why you ran away..." I knew he had run away to be with his dad, but I never knew about their relationship before that. But I thought it wouldn't have been the best one, seeing as they didn't hit it off well.

"I wanted to be with my father..." He nodded. "I grew up without either my mom or my dad, and ended up having a bad reaction when he wouldn't visit." I wanted to say something, to say that I understood, but I found myself incapable of uttering a single word. "I acted as you have for the past week. I let my Abuelo get worried, and ended up running away because I couldn't take it anymore, but..." He trailed off, crossing his arms and forcefully grabbing his sleeves.

"But?" I don't know why I was trying to make him talk, but maybe he needed to talk... like me.

"He acted so differently when I was a kid... it didn't even seem like that was the same person."

"Does... does that change the way you see him?" He gave a curt, unsteady nod. "But he's still your dad, so you still love him." He nodded again. "Would you...after this is all over... go and uh... live with him? If given the opportunity?"

"I should say no, but yeah, if we could just fix everything then yes, I would."

"Then I hope you guys fix everything." He shot me a somewhat hopeful look before nodding meekly.

The conversation ended there as silence took over, once more. We stayed like that for a few minutes before Ed got up, saying that he was going sleep and that if I needed anything, everyone's door was open and that I shouldn't hesitate to knock.

I was about to bid him goodnight but stopped momentarily as I allowed the guilt to overpower me. "I really am sorry though... about all of this. My reactions and... and just everything in general." It felt as if I was growing smaller with each word that I spoke.

Giving me one last look, he nodded, bid me goodnight, and went to sleep. I answered with a soft goodnight before he disappeared, but stayed behind just sitting patiently on the couch and thinking of our previous conversation. Our childhood was, in a way, similar. We were both raised by one of our grandparents and didn't really have our parents around. _'At least, he has his dad... I just hope they can fix the hole in their relationship.'_

And with that thought running through my head so began the last week that our Runaway group would stay together. I hoped that we would have more time, but it seems the world had different plans, for all of us.

** _ YEAH, THAT'S THE END OF THE BOOK!! _ **

** _ I HOPE THE STORY WAS ENJOYABLE! _ **

** _ MY IMAGINATION HAS RUN OUT, SO THIS IS THE END. I'm super sorry... _ **

** _ SORRY AND GOODBYE!!!! _ **

** **

** ** ** **

** **

** _ Jk, it's not the end. This only has 800 something words. Please, continue on. _ **

It wasn't bad. It was actually enjoyable to have things go back to normal, sort of anyway, and to open up, even if just a little. The day after mine and Eduardo's late-night conversation, I heard a mouth full from both Tye and mama Virgil, but I didn't mind, not much anyway. It felt good to listen to them being annoyed with me again. A moment was even shared between us all, about our lives, yes, Arsenal included.

_"Chica, we know it's hard. I was raised by my Abuelo and not by my parents. So I get it, but if you don't really start talking, it teleporting you to Alaska." His words made me recall our conversation, but also laugh lightly as his threat._

_Taking the opportunity, Tye tried, alongside Ed to show he understood. "I lived most of my life without my dad... it was always just my mom and me until she found her boyfriend. He was horrible, and the reason why I left..." I looked up at Tye, noticing guilt flash through his face. "I left her with him..."_

_"I can't say that I know the feeling, but we're here for you," Virgil spoke softly while scratching the back of his neck sheepishly. "Heck! We're all here for each other through thick and thin!"_

_"Kodomono koro watashiwa ryōshin'to ishoni sun'deirutowa kesshite omowanakatta marude kareraga watashino yosomonodatta (When I was a child, I didn't think I was living with my parents. It was as if they were strangers to me.)" (A/N: I don't know Japanese, and this was the only translation that I got that looked SORT OF like what I wanted, so, please excuse my odd English. Not that it's weird, but to me, it is because it's not what I wanted exactly, but it's close.) I couldn't understand exactly what it was Asami had said, but I got the general idea as some words were, fortunately, already implemented into my vocabulary._

_"I've been encased in ice for eight years... I haven't been with my parents in a long time... still not sure if I'm ever going to try and see them again." Honestly, having Arsenal try to identify with my situation made me happy. I was surprised but glad. All they were doing for me was and **is** more then I could ever ask for._

_"Look, we all have different stories; different pasts; different weaknesses and reactions... but we can understand each other if we try... and right now? We're trying to understand you so that we can help you. So I just want you to promise us one thing..." Bringing his pinky finger up, Virgil held it in front of my face before continuing. "**Never** do that to us again. If you ever feel like this again, tell us." He stopped speaking for a moment and looked at the others. "That includes all of us. Got it?"_

_You know that moment when your chest gets really warm, and you feel fuzzy inside, as joy completely overtakes your senses? And you just allow every single emotion to fly out at the exact same time? That extremely annoying feeling of acceptance that will claw at your heart until you finally allow it in and actually just let it be? That's what's going through right now. Can't say that I mind. It's a feeling that makes me feel like everything was going to be better from now one. Like it was all going to work out._

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"Hey! That's not true! You guys-"

"Shush! Don't interrupt me, child!" As she stared at me for a while, you could see the gears in her head-turning in an extraordinarily slow pace as she took in my joking attitude. And then, she laughed hysterically before urging me to continue through the laughed tear-filled eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapters every week.  
Hope you enjoyed and have a good day/night.


	43. The Beginning Of The End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I WROTE THIS ENTIRE CHAPTER WHILE LISTENING TO THE SONG "The Plagues" from the Prince of Egypt, and I don't know why!!!

_The week that followed was...normal, and I felt great after just a few days. Letting my walls back down is something that I'm happy to have done. But even after I had allowed the others back in, they spent the entire week paying close attention to everything I did, making sure that I ate all my meals which I will say was a little hard since my body both wanted food and at the same time wanted it as far away as possible. They were also constantly talking to me and making me do things, as a way to ensure that I was always too busy to overthink. And before I knew it, a full week had gone by. It went faster than expected, and I had hope that it would restart and never end, but alas, time doesn't work that way. _

_Nothing special had really happened, and we were just ordinary teens for a few more days which, made me happy since that was something that even when we didn't have any adults to tell us what to do, proved to be difficult for us. The only part of the week that I found extraordinary odd is my lack of need for sleep as I spent the nights writing, and only slept for about two hours. It's as if my body changed directions completely, going from sleeping all the time and having uncomfortable dreams that followed one right after the other... to not wanting to sleep at all. I don't know if that's a good thing or not...but then again, nothing terrible has happened, so it might mean nothing. _

_By the time the week ended, I felt somewhat uncomfortable with a weird feeling building up in the pit of my stomach as if warning me that something big was going to happen. I would have brushed the odd feeling off, but every time I tried to ignore it, the images of Mariana's hologram flashed before my eyes. I honestly hope that it was just a dream and nothing more... that it isn't like some of my other dreams that show things that are soon to happen. _

"Felicity! Dinner is ready!" Placing the pen down, I brought my writing to a halt.

"Coming!" I hollered as I closed my notebook and placed it atop my bedside table. I jumped up from the bed and scurried off towards the room door, stopping momentarily to give one last look at my notebook before walking out the door and into the dining/living room, wouldn't want to keep mama Virgil waiting.

"Hungry?" I opened my mouth to answer, but he had already dumped, quite literally, the food onto my plate. "If not, you're gonna have to eat it anyway." I could hear the mockery lacing his voice as he finished his sassy phrase.

"Boy, you are rude. What'd the poor food ever do to you?" He stared at me for a moment, blinked, opened his mouth, preparing to speak before stopping, and closing it again.

"She's right, bro. You were super... _mean_ to the poor little food." _'His sarcasm on puns... sucks. Guess that's Tye for yah.'_ Almost immediately, Arsenal and Ed gagged on their food, which led to a massive coughing fit that grew bigger as they gargled down multiple glasses of water. Virgil and I stared at them for a good five minutes before they calmed down and stopped coughing while Asami and Tye just ate their food in an unfazed manner as if two people hadn't been practically dying in front of them.

"Dude, I think you killed them." It was true. They looked dead with their heads on the table as their bodies stood unmoving. "Are they dead?"

"Nah, they're fine. Just throw some water on them, and they'll be up again."

"You know what... I think I **won't** do that. I have a deep love for my head and would prefer it if it remained connected to my throat."

"Good choice." In a matter of seconds, both boys were back to normal, with the small exception of their faces being beat red from the coughing. _'At least, they're still alive.' _And with the confirmation that they were alright, we ate our dinner in peace. It still surprised me that we were actually having dinner on the table and not scattered around the house like we used to. _'Guess they still don't want to leave me alone, even though Sam and I usually ate together. But whateves.'_

Once we finished, Virgil and I grabbed all the dishes and took them to the kitchen since today we were the ones on plate cleaning duty. Yes, this is a thing. No, it isn't enjoyable when you're the one to break every dish you come into contact with because they slip out of your hands like wet soap. We were almost finished with our duty after I **finally** managed to get Virgil to stop tickling me by throwing a dirty rag at him, that is. It went by fairly quickly if we ignore that little mishap which I will still get my vengeance on since I almost broke a dish because of him, but ironically, it seems my revenge will have to wait since the universe has other plans, placed upon this earth and manifested into a knock on our front door.

"Anyone want to answer that or do we just ignore it?" We were all very cautious as none of us wanted to risk opening the door. No one wished to have last week's events happen again. It didn't matter with who, we just didn't want it.

Knocking once more, the person waited before speaking. "We know you guys are in there! Your heat signatures are very much present."

None of us dared move or speak, hoping that they would leave. Safe to say that they didn't as a second voice spoke, arguing with someone presumably with the first person. "No, we are not blowing open the door!"

"Can we just hurry?? We have to get back to H.Q."

"You really don't know how to be patient, do you, ese?"

"C'mon a-mi-go, you know me better than that!" As the voices all spoke amongst themselves, so far, I could identify three different people standing outside our apartment's front door.

"Will both of you just shut up?!" Hearing the first voice once more, I could identify it as a familiar female voice. _'You're screwing with me...'_

Furrowing my eyebrows, I found myself moving towards the door alongside Tye, who held the same doubtful look upon his face. We stopped in front of it and paid close attention to see if they would speak again. They did, but this time through whispers, though we could still make out the voices. We both shared a knowing look, and cautiously opened the door, signaling the others to be ready.

"Hi, Felicity and Felicity's friends."

"Hola, ese."

"Hi! I'm Impulse! Can we come in? K, cool. Thanks!"

____________________________________________________________________________________

"So, we're all doomed is what you're telling me."

"You act as if you didn't already know that."

"Never said I didn't... just surprised that it happened so early. I thought there was more time, but then again with time-travelers shoved into the mix, the future is never set in stone."

"True."

"So, since I can't trust my visons, how long do we have to fix this?"

"Maybe, one hour to get things ready, but to actually stop the bombs... about thirty minutes, if we're lucky."

"Well, fuck. Thirty minutes to save the world. Guess you better do this fast. Oh, yeah! How did you even get that timeframe?"

"Still localizing all the bombs and... uh... mierda... Lex Luthor helped."

Stopping for a moment, the short-haired female took in her companion's words. "And the kids?"

"Blue, Impulse, and Gravity are with them now."

"Don't you need the beetle?"

"Yes, he only went with them to explain things to Tye, but he's already on his way back."

"And here I thought the Impulse kid was the fast one." Valerie let out a laugh while slapping her knee in amusement. "Well, blondie, you'd better get going."

"Of course. Call you later." Seeing as the other female was about to end the call, Valerie quickly added.

"Oh, and Mariana?" Mariana hummed on the other side of the line. "Be careful."

"Of course, and don't you go doing something you shouldn't just cuz it's the end of the world either."

"Wouldn't dream of it." And with that, Valerie placed the phone back down and got up. "I'll just be breaking out. Nothing special."

_____________________________________________________________________________________

"So you guys- not including Flash junior- are free from the Reach's control and the world is ending?" With a short nod, Claire turned to face the others.

"I'm sorry to ask... but we need you guys..."

"Like your help would be super crash."

Would believe me if I said that it didn't take absolutely any effort to convince us to help? Like it only took a few simple words, and we agreed almost immediately. Though we were still reluctant to hear them out, the speedster guy was quick to calm our nerves and get to the point. Jaime was with them and came with the sole purpose of apologizing to us, but especially to Tye, before saying he needed to go help with finding the Reach bombs and leaving.

Since we still had some time before the bombs were located, Claire and I ended up going to the roof to talk.

She floated over to the edge and sat down, overlooking the city. "It's still not a good idea... I know that I- we came to call you guys, but..." Her voice fell with each word that left her lips.

I looked down at her and sat down while placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder as I tried to make myself look strong. "Hey, it's fine. You don't have to worry. It's nice to know that we're needed for more than just some experiments or as little teammates that did nothing to gain their place in the said team other than rebel against everyone." The second part was a blatant lie. We had saved them, so we had, in fact, done something worth the while to be approved into their team. Even if we had rebelled, we still came through to help them just like they did us.

"Hey! That's not true! You guys-"

"Shush! Don't interrupt me, child!" As she stared at me for a while, you could see the gears in her head-turning at an extraordinarily slow pace as she took in my joking attitude. And then, she laughed hysterically before urging me to continue through the laughter, tear-filled eyes. I was about to do as she said, but it seems that her laughing fit was contagious. "Oh, my God! I hate you so much right now!" I screeched as my arms shot to wrap themselves over my stomach. "It hurts... Ow." My strained words only caused her to laugh harder.

"Watching you suffer this way... Is... So... Much... Fun!" This was a moment that warmed my heart, and for a second, I forgot what was happening as I allowed myself to feel juvenile once more. It's been so long since Claire and I laughed together and acted like we used to that I almost forgot what it was even like...

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"So, you ready?"

"Never been more ready in my life. Though, I wish we had more time for reunions."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapters are published every week.  
Hope you enjoyed and have a good day/night.


	44. Chrysalis

"Every single magnetic field disruptor must be disabled before they Chrysalis, to guarantee earth's safety. Each MFD is protected by multiple beetle-tech-drones, and each drone is the equivalent of a Beetle warrior." This wasn't the kind of information to be taken lightly, especially when you know a Beetle warrior's power due to first-person experience. This mission might have just gotten a whole lot harder. "Blue Beetle has located twenty-one MFDs around the world. There's forty-two of us assembled here, so you'll be in squads of two."

"And here I thought this would be a piece of cake..."

"I know the feeling..."

"You will all be issued multiple Reach tech eggs containing my anti-Reach virus software. While one hero runs interference with the drones, the other only has to physically touch his or her egg against an MFD to disable it."

"Working with Lex Luthor again... Would you believe me if I told you that, that is the most surprising and unexpected thing to happen today?"

"No, we're on the same boat. Trust me."

"Alright, I have your assignments. We'll distribute these eggs and go." Claire shot me a sideways glance, signaling that I was going with her.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the fate of the world is in your hands."

"Yeah, no pressure." And with the information said, given and done, we all grabbed our eggs and prepared to leave. Claire and I were assigned an MFD located in Portugal, not too far from a small city named Pinhel.

"Hey! Felicidade! Clara!" Just as we were about to pass through the boomtube, a voice interrupted us. "Nem se atrevam a continuar! (Don't even think about continuing!)" We stopped as soon as we heard Maria calling out to us.

"Maria!" We both stepped aside and hugged her. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, não sei! Que tal... a ajudar? Que mais estaria eu a fazer? A cantarolar? Quando o mundo está a acabar? (Oh, I don't know! How about... helping? What else would I be doing? Singing? When the world is ending?)"

"No, but how did you get here?"

"A Mariana foi me buscar. Ah, e Clara, a tua irmã é muito fixe. (Mariana went to pick me up. Oh, and Claire, your sister, is super cool.)"

"How did you even know about-"

"Como disse: A Mariana foi me buscar. Ou seja, ela contou-me tudo. (Like I said, Marina went to pick me up. In other words, she told me everything.)" She shot us a smug smile before digging into her pocket. "Aqui, vão precisar disto para falarem comigo. (Here. You'll need this to communicate with me.)"

"Why would we-"

"Por que sou eu quem vos vai ajudar. Já estive muitas vezes em Pinhel. (Because I'm the one who's going to help you guys since I've been to Pinhel multiple times.)"

"Still not sure how that's help-"

"Simplesmente, não me questionem. (Simply, don't question me.)" She shushed us one last time before handing us two ear communicator thingys. Yes, I don't know what they're called. Pathetic, I know. We grabbed them without question and, with one last hug and goodbye, made our way back to the boomtube.

"So, you ready?"

"Never been more ready in my life. Though, I wish we had more time for reunions."

"Hey, we'll have more time as soon as we win," Claire said while placing one of her hands on my shoulder and bringing the other one up for a fist bump. "Partners?"

Bringing my fist up to meet hers, I smiled and nodded. "Partners."  
__________________________________________________________________________________________

"So your planing on breaking out, shorty?"

"Got a problem?"

"Not at all! I'm just wondering how your gonna do it on your own. Is your boss gonna break you or something?"

"Or something."

"Oh, c'mon! You gots to have someone on the outside. Who is it? Oh! Is it the Lig-" Before the female even had time to finish, she had been pinned against the wall by the smaller female. She hadn't meant to draw attention to herself, but she honestly didn't care. Plus, it's not like the guards were going to stop her. They saw the hair change.

Her hands' grip tightened around the female's throat as she spoke in a slow and threatening voice. "You know... your voice has become incredibly annoying to me, and sometimes, the best thing you can do is keep your pothole shut, just to ensure that stupid, bullshit like that **doesn't** come out." She stared directly into the taller female's fear-filled eyes and continued. "Now, what do we say after we said something that we know that we aren't supposed to?"

"S... Sor-... -ry." Valerie let the other drop to the floor, watching her cough for a moment before walking back to her table.  
__________________________________________________________________________________________

When we arrived at our destination, it was a mess. There were hurricanes casually floating from one side to the other, ripping old, decaying houses and trees from the ground, and the sky was a dark shade of grey as the clouds shut out the sun's light. "Uh... Cl- Gravitation. How're we supposed to find the MFD?"

"We follow the map."

"What map?"

"The one Blue sent me." As if it was the most natural thing ever, Claire touched her suit, and a hologram popped up in front of us with a small red dot flashed onto it. "It should be right about... over.... there!" With a smug smile, Claire pointed towards the middle of the open field where, ironically and insultingly, the MFD stood peacefully being guarded by the drones.

"I hate you."

"Love you too. Now, c'mon. We have to disable it." This was the moment my regret began setting in. Fighting Blue Beetle was hard, and I was happy that we didn't have to do that again, but now we had to fight drones that were the equivalent of a Blue Beetle.

"Ok, plano rapido. Clara, tu atacas os drones, enquanto a Felicity vai desativar a bomba. Parece-vos bem? Ok, que bom. (Ok, quick plan. Claire, you attack the drones while Felicity deactivates the bomb. Sound good? Ok, great.)"

"What exactly did she just say? I heard my name, your name, and something about attacking."

"She said- without giving us time to answer- that you would attack the drone, and I'd go and deactivate the MFD."

"Sounds like a good plan to me!" _'I won't even question it."'_

"You just wanna blow things up, don't you?"

"You know me so well! Now, go! They're already shooting at us."

Claire quickly flew in front of me and proceeded to bash one of the drones on the ground, repeatedly. I took the opportunity since the other drones were distracted with her, to run to the MFD. I was about to place the egg on the MFD but was rudely interrupted by one of the drones blasting the ground next to my feet. I quickly turned around and repelled it against one of the few trees that were still standing, further than I hoped for, but it got the job done. I then turned back to the MFD and placed the egg on it, watching in satisfaction as it stopped and fell to the ground. _'Easier than expected.' _

"Good job, Felicity!"  
__________________________________________________________________________________________

Still sitting on her table, Valerie muttered to herself. "Good job, pipsqueak. Now, just go home and don't do anything stupid. You finished your job, and now it's time I finish mine." She ignored the questioning looks of some of the other inmates and proceeded to flip the said table into some wandering guards before dashing towards the doors.

"Hey!" She cursed under her breath when a group of guards blocked her path. "Not another step or else."

"What're you going to do, zap me?! It's like you people still haven't learned from the incident with the Martian princess and her Superman wannabe boyfriend." In an instant they were all unconscious. "Or learned about my powers. Morons." She didn't even look back at the inmates as she made her escape.  
__________________________________________________________________________________________

As soon as we had finished destroying the remaining drones, Claire screamed victoriously before hugging me and messing up my hair. She was completely ecstatic, saying how we did it and how we should start working together on the team.

Stopping that MFD from going, Chrysalis felt great! I felt accomplished and oddly enough... heroic. Knowing that I helped people in any way made happiness soar through my body. Maybe, I'd consider joining if they gave me that chance...

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"Wait! Mariana, stop!" I don't know what came over me, but my body moved on its own, following after her. I knew I wouldn't get to her in time, so in an instant, my legs came to a halt as I raised my arm in her direction. A wave of nostalgia suddenly hit me as pressure began to rise up from my feet, rising and wrapping itself around my outstretched arm.

"Felicity!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapters every week.  
Thank you for reading.  
Have a good day/night.


	45. Unpredictable (Finale Part 1)

Now that I think about it, maybe reacting upon impulse wasn't a good idea. Taking into account the events that came to pass, I probably should have thought this through. But at the same time, I'm happy that I didn't.

_"What do you mean there's another MFD?!"_

_"It was hidden from Blue's previous scans." _

_"Please tell me it hasn't gone chrysalis yet!"_

_"It's gone chrysalis."_

_"Mierda!"_

_"No cursing, enana."_

_"But the Flash, Impulse and Kid Flash are already there."_

_"Yeah, and we're going to meet up with them. Backup."_

_"I'm coming."_

_"If you're going, then I'm going."_

_"Felicity, I think you should stay-"_

_"Hey, you said it yourself." I placed my hand on her shoulder and held up my fist. "Partners."_

_Smiling back at me, she did the same. "Partners."_

_Mariana shot us a questioning look before smiling, moving towards the boomtubes and gesturing towards them."As much as I love having both of you together again, we _ ** _really_ ** _ gotta get this show on the road." It was odd to see Mariana so pushy, but I decided _ _not to question it_ _. For all I know_ _, _ _it could be the adrenaline._

_"Oh, no, you don't. We're coming with you." I didn't even answer as the rest of the Runaways came to stand beside me._

_"Sounds great. Now_ _,_ _ can we go_ _?"_

And the next thing I knew, we arrived at the North Pole where Flash, Kid Flash, and Impulse ran around the now gone chrysalis MFD, in order to stop the Chrysalis Energy and shut it down. It seemed to be going alright, but things don't always go according to plan...

_The adrenaline of the moment began to kick in as we watched all three speedsters run circles around the now active and soon to implode Chrysalis Energy. But something didn't feel right. I felt extremely uneasy as I watched them run in circles before turning to face a _ _nervous-looking_ _ Mariana, and almost immediately, the world around me slowed down, coming to a complete halt in a matter of seconds. I had no idea what was going on, but a bunch of scenes suddenly flashed before my eyes. Mariana and Kid Flash as holograms while Virgil and I stared up at them; Claire placing her mask in front of Mariana's hologram; and then, Mariana taking off in a sprint towards the flowing Chrysalis energy, yelling before disappearing into the small blizzard. It quickly cut to our backup team that stared in shock, not daring to move in after her. When the speedsters managed to stop the chrysalis energy, the only people _ _that_ _ stood in front of us were Impulse and the Flash... no Mariana and no Kid Flash..._

_"Kid, can you hear me?" A familiar voice rang through my racing mind. "Hey, chill for a moment and listen." The__ir__ voice_ _came out muffled, but you could still understand it. "I'm trying really hard not to get the Martian's mind link up right now, so imma say this quickly. Mariana looks uneasy__,__ doesn't she?" I could feel myself nod slowly. "That's my fault. I accidentally told her what was, will, and is going to happen to Kid Flash during this 'saving the world process.' And it isn't good. Look, I'm on my damned way, so don't __-__either of you__\- __do anything stupid. And please, for everything that is most holy to us, do not tell her!" And with that__,__ it vanished._

_The moment the images and the voice disappeared, the world around me went back to normal, and I found Mariana stirring uncomfortably next to me while twirling her bat in her hands. I looked around at our backup group. Everyone seemed fairly normal, given the circumstances, that is. Everyone was staring attentively at the scene in front of us, waiting to see what would happen next. All except three people: Me, as I stared at everyone else; Mariana, whose attention shifted from the running heroes in front of us to the far ends of the never_ _-ending_ _ snow and ice that surrounded us; and Blue Beetle, who seemed to have just received some of the most shocking news of his life given the surprised and uneasy expression that crossed his features. _

His expression still hung like a portrait in my mind. As if he knew, to some extent, what was going to happen. He probably did, now that I think about it, it would make sense for the scarab to have told him, right? But why didn't he say anything earlier? I mean, that might have helped, in some way... right?

_'Something bad is going to happen to Kid Flash... like what I saw... and if we don't do something_ _,_ _ it'll happen to Mariana too... meaning that whatever happens to one will happen to the other. Gah! Felicity, stop trying to act intellectual! But I also can't think of anything to help either of them since I don't know what's going to happen! Fudge!' My mind slowly began to juggle up all the words, preventing me from understanding the situation further. I don't know what to do. I know what I saw_ _,_ _ and I know what I heard, but I didn't know how to stop it. The person said they were coming, is that a good or a bad thing? They seem to care, even if just a little... guess there's nothing else left to do other than wait and hope that they get here before Mariana takes off running. Jinx._

To think that I jinxed it all just by having one hopeful thought. Wow, I didn't see that one coming.

_The weight that stood beside me shifted quickly as something fell into the snow. I only had time to blink in surprise when I saw Mariana dashing towards the three heroes. 'Fuck no.' Everything stopped for a moment as we watched her run, but I forbade the shock from taking over my senses. I knew this was going to happen_ _. I_ _ saw it. Now, I need to stop it, even if I _ _don't_ _ know_ _ how to._

_"Wait! Mariana, stop!" I don't know what came over me, but my body moved on its own, following after her. I knew I wouldn't get to her in time, so in an instant, my legs came to a halt as I raised my arm in her direction. A wave of nostalgia suddenly hit me as pressure began to rise up from my feet, rising and wrapping itself around my outstretched arm. _

_"Felicity!"_

I'm still not sure what happened at that moment, but this is a moment where I have to thank my powers for getting out of control. Sometimes it helps more than it should.

_The pressure wasn't leaving. I_ _f anything, it_ _ was growing thicker and heavier around my arm and just my body, in general. I could hear my name be_ _ing_ _ yelled out, but I didn't react. I felt my mind go blank for a moment as a weird ringing sound erupted in my ears. I didn't dare move or react_ _. I_ _ knew my powers were acting up, but by now, things should be flying wildly from one side to the other or something._  
_"Felicity! Stop,"_

_Stop? Stop what? I wasn't even doing anything... or so I thought. Looking forward, I saw Mariana being dragged towards us- no, more specifically, towards my frozen form. My arm fell to my side as I began looking at everyone around me_ _,_ _ and that's when I noticed_ _, through_ _ the weird pressure bubble that surrounded me, you could clearly see the wind, it was _ _pulled_ _ in causing a wave of cold air to hit me... or what I thought to be a wave of cold air_ _. It_ _ hit me repeatedly, sending _ _me _ _staggering forward slightly before regaining my mindless balance. What. Is. Happening?_

_"¡Mierda!" _

Next thing I knew, I was face-first into the cold ass snow with Claire next to me. When I opened my eyes and got up, I remember feeling numb, in a way. It felt as if my body was turning to nothing, but I brushed off the feeling. Dumb. I ended up apologizing without even knowing what had happened exactly.

_I looked up at Claire, who stared at me worriedly. "I'm sorry..." I still didn't know what happened_ _,_ _ and my mind was still all juggled up._

_"Hey, don't worry about it. Powers get out of control when you're under a lot of emotional baggage."_

_"Uh, Felicity?" Claire's voice cracked slightly, prompting me to stare at her questioningly. "You're becoming see-through... Blue!"_

_"I... I..."_

_"¿¡Que esta pasando!? (What's happening!?) I saw the chrysalis energy hit her! What does that mean!?" Chrysalis Energy? Hit me? _

_"It... it used her as an exit vowel."_

_"What does that mean!?"_

_"Uh, Claire..."_

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"So I'm dead. That's what you're saying."

"..." He let out a long sigh before continuing. "In a way, yes, you have ceased to exist."

"Therefore, dead."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapters every week.  
Thanks for ready.  
Have a good day/night.


	46. Goodbye (Finale Part 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be one more chapter published this week, that said chapter being the Epilogue.  
I thank in advance everyone who read this book and got this far.

I watched in horror as my friends vanished from my sight, their heart-wrenching screams ceased, and the world around me turned to dust. _'What's happening?' _Of course, we question things in our own mind, still expecting a magical entity to pop up out of nowhere and provide us with an answer. Yeah, safe to say that I didn't have any mystical answer and my question remained out in the open just waiting impatiently.

I felt my body fade into the nothingness that surrounded me before the feeling of weightlessness took over. The world around me was shrouded in a thick, quiet, and unnerving darkness, preventing me from seeing the world that no longer existed.

After a few minutes, my feet found their place on the ground once more, but the lack of light persisted, forbidding me from- No, wait... my eyes are closed. Let me just open those... and, now, I want them closed again. Yup, it'll be less painful for my fragile pupils.

Once I became accustomed to the bright light that flooded my vision, I found that I stood in the middle of a long unknown hallway with what seemed to be broken fragments of light. They were all over the place, no matter where I looked, there was always more. _'Where the hell am I?' _I looked down the long hallway, but I couldn't see the end of it due to the bright lights, so I decided to find the end of it myself.

_"C'mon Claire! Hurry! She's getting away!" _

_"Também sinto saudades vossas._ _ (I miss you too.)"_

_"This is my boyfriend, Jaime."_

Voices started buzzing around me. I tried to ignore them as they grew louder the deeper I walked into the hallway. They came from the left, the right, above me, and even from below me. I dared not look towards the voices as my feet continued moving unannounced.

_"I scream! You scream! We all scream for Ice Cream! Gimme!" _

_"Felicity, look what I made! Isn't it cool?"_

_"Have fun explaining this to her."_

As soon as the words hit my ears, my feet planted themselves firmly on the ground as I dared not look or move to the side. Instead, I listened carefully to the words... then the phrase that most hurt me struck:

_"I'm sorry, chica... but... that was not your father... it was a lie to get you to go with him... that man was your uncle..."_

And in an instant, I took off running, dashing down the never-ending hallway of torment as more voices penetrated my ears.

_'I look pathetic... I _ ** _am_ ** _ pathetic...'_

_"It was a lie... It was all a lie! He's dead! They're dead!"_

_"Felicidade... já decidi o que vou fazer, mas preciso que me ouças e nem tentes reclamar. (Felicity... I've decided what I'm going to do, but I need you to listen and don't object.)"_

_"You meat bags truly are a handful."_

I wanted to scream out. To make them stop. To shut them up and just have peace. I could feel tears prickling the corner of my eyes, but I won't let them fall. I won't feel sorry. I could practically hear Ed and Claire talking beside me:

_"If you don't get yourself together, I'll teleport you to Alaska."_

_"Felicity, you're stronger than this, c'mon! _ _If you don't get yourself together, I'm knocking you out!"_

With an annoyed eye roll and huff, I wiped the unshed, salty tears away and continued running. I ignored the voices that flew around me and kept my eyes away from them, only paying attention to what stood in front of me. The sound of my footsteps and uneasy breathes bounced off the walls colliding against the sound of my memories, which in turn created a bunch of conflicted echoes.

_"Anyone else see the second moon that casually just spawned in the sky?"_

_"Leave me alone to die! I wanna sleep!"_

_"Taking the freedom that's rightfully ours."_

_"It's not! You just have no taste!"_

_"Run, you shit."_

_"Dude, there are better ways to wake her up."_

And cue my feet coming to a halt, once again, as I turned- for the first time- to face the voices, seeing where this specific one came from. I stared intensely at the light fragment that casually floated beside me, and after a while of starting, I noticed the scene that played within it. It was our pillow fight... the one moment where everything felt perfect, and we could be childish and carefree.

_The dream- or memory- I was experiencing wasn't particularly memorable, but I wasn't expecting to be woken up by the soft blow of reality or, in other words, Virgil chucking a pillow at my face as a means of waking me. Effective, but not practical._

_"She wasn't responding any other way, man..."_

_"I'd move out of the way if I were you. Remember what happened last time you did that?" I moved my hands towards my face, trying to figure out what the smooth object was._

_"Good po-" Before Virgil could finish his sentence, the said smooth object- the damned pillow that awoke me from my not so peaceful slumber- found its place on his smug face._

_"Don't wake me up like that again."_

_"Told you."_

_A muffled sound came from under the pillow, which amused me. "Can't hear you." The sing-song hint of entertainment was extremely evident in my teasing voice. He repeated his muffled sound_ _\- _ _louder this time_ _\- _ _but his words continued unreadable. "Still nothing." _

I wish I could go back to this moment and have it repeat on a loop, but alas, things don't work like that. Though, that thought didn't stop me from laughing loudly at the ridiculous scene of us all missing our targets, and beginning a pillow war that ended up involving our powers and making us live in a feathery wonderland.

"Your friends don't have the best aim, do they?" An amused male elderly voice mused from beside me. At first, I thought it to be only another memory, but when I looked, I saw a familiar man standing next to me. Cane in hand, wrinkled smiling face and suit perfectly ironed as per usual.

"Mr. Nelson!" How was this possible? Hadn't he... passed away a few years back?

"You were taking long. Thought I'd check to see what held you. It seems I shouldn't have worried myself." I opened my mouth to question him, but he was already on his way. "Don't stand there with your mouth open, or you'll catch flies."

I did as he said and took off after him. When we reached the end of the hallway and stopped walking, there was someone- who hadn't yet noticed our presence and was staring down at something- waiting for us in the middle of the white nothingness that surrounded every part of our vision. Kid Flash. I couldn't see his face, but he seemed stiff with his arms crossed tightly over his chest. I looked from him to Mr. Nelson, preparing to speak, but stopped once my brain actually processed the situation. _'This_ _is probably a dream-'_

"This isn't a dream, young Spitfire."

"Pardon?"

"This is very much real, though I wish we could have met in better circumstances, but it seems fate had other plans."

"I still don't get it."

He said nothing, continuing his way towards Kid Flash. "Come along." Relentlessly, I followed in suit while still not understanding the situation entirely.

Once at his side- Kid Flash's- I followed his gaze, directing my eyes towards the scene that began playing.

_"Felicity!" _Claire's excruciating scream of agony boomed and bounced within the vast abyss that surrounded us. She was clawing at the ground while the others stood silently behind her. Some ran to where Flash and Impulse stood while the others stared blankly at the scene in front of them as if not understanding her reaction. _"Bring her back! Bring her back! Jaime, tráela de vuelta." (A/N: Ok, I apologize right now, because I seriously cannot, for the life of me, remember how to say this in Spanish, so here's google translator. If this way of writing isn't correct, please don't hesitate to tell me off and to correct me). _She repeated the same sentence over and over and over again before her screams and claws at the ground came to a halt, and then, she just broke down.

_'What the hell is this-'_

Then it clicked. All the memories that surrounded me moments ago, be they the good ones or the bad ones; an old family friend that had died a few years ago appearing out of thin air; and now, seeing my best friend pretty much have a mental breakdown because I disappeared... I suddenly knew what this meant. I felt my breath hitch as shock and fear took over. I stopped watching and directed my eyes to the ground, clenched my shaking hands into fists, and spoke, forcing myself not to sound as I felt.

"So I'm dead. That's what you're saying." The quiver in my voice- even though I tried- was hard to hide. Much harder than I had anticipated.

"..." He- Mr. Nelson- let out a long sigh before continuing. "In a way, yes, you have ceased to exist."

"Therefore, dead."

All three of us stood in silence for a moment before a dry laugh was heard from beside me. "Why don't I feel... surprised?" Kid Flash didn't take his eyes off of the scene as he continued speaking in a grim tone. "Guess this is the price of being a hero..."

Gulping loudly, I looked back at the "_magical_" scene that brought desperation to consume my heart. It zoomed into my friend's faces as they finally understood what they had just witnessed... why Claire was losing it... and why we were gone.

Asami's face showed confusion for a few seconds as she stared at Claire in concern, tilting her head to the side as she tried making sense of the situation. When it finally hit her, you could see her eyes visibly widen as her head shot to the sides as she searched worriedly for me.

Tye was quick to understand what he was watching and what led to it. He quickly got Sam to relax and stop her from worrying by grabbing her hand and hugging her, forcing her to stop. She resisted a little, but eventually gave in.

Virgil, sort of, like Tye didn't really have any noticeable reaction. Once the gears in his head came to the same conclusion the others had, he fell butt first into the cold snow, placing his face into his hands for a moment before dragging them down and letting them fall.

After having had a small disagreement with the scarab- something that was only noticeable due to how aggressively he spoke- Jaime went to comfort Claire, bringing her into a hug that she quickly accepted.

Ed didn't do... anything really... he simply stood next to Virgil with his hands in his pockets, eyebrows raised, and mouth slightly a gap as he stared at Claire and Jaime.

And then, there was Mariana, who was stuck between where I previously stood and where Kid Flash previously ran. By her expression, she didn't know what to do, who to console, or who to grieve over, so she ended up just sitting there with her face directed towards the ground and eyes closed.

"I'm sorry..."


	47. Holographic Memories (Epilogue)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is officially the end of the story.  
Thank you all for reading, it means a lot :)  
I hope this story was enjoyable.  
And, again, thank you.

The rough sound of a car engine suddenly stopping shot into the night air, breaking through the silence and announcing to everyone in a ten-mile radius that the old, rundown Jeep was there.

After a few seconds of nothing happening, the car doors opened and a bunch of feet collided with the soft, grassy ground. While three of those feet went in one direction, the fourth went another, stopping momentarily in front of a small batch of stairs before jumping over them and knocking on the door.

The inhabitants of the house stopped eating their dinner and turned to look at the door. They heard the loud engine, but they hadn't expected a knock on their front door as they hadn't been expecting any visits. The adults, immediately, became worried and unsure, thinking that if there was someone in their porch waiting to talk to them, it couldn't be a good thing. They cautiously went to answer the door while their daughter sat in confusion watching.

* * *

A knock rang through the closed door, invading the comfortable silence of the night and running through the quiet house. No one answered the door, not immediately, at least. It took a few more knocks for an elderly woman_ (A/N: If this is offensive in any way, shape or form, I apologise, but, at least, where I'm from this isn't considered offensive unless you put it specifically in an insulting tone.)_ to open the door, she, of course, was reluctant to do such a thing in the middle of the night, but the chance of finding her granddaughter standing in her front porch was enough to make up her mind.

Hope shot through her heart, and she could feel the adrenaline kick in for a moment as her hand reached for the locked door and proceeded to unlock it and open it, and in a matter of seconds, her hope was crushed into smithereens of nothingness as she's met with the heart-broken faces of the small group of teens that stood in front of her. She recognized the duo immediately, which caused a tinge of hope to return, but once she caught a glimpse of her granddaughter's best friend's faces, it vanished again, and she knew why they were there.

Stepping aside, she allowed them in, saying nothing as they- in a single file- walked into her living room followed by one well-known woman. Before she had time to react, the elderly woman grabbed her arm, forcing her to a halt as she spoke in a sombre voice, "Where is my granddaughter? Valerie... where's mi Nipotina?"

* * *

As soon as the words left the smaller boy's lips, the tallest of the two fell back onto his seat and dropped his face into his hands. He felt the world around him stop as the words made their way into his nervous system, and, for a moment, he was happy that he no longer had his powers as they would have surely blown out of control.

He allowed himself to grieve and feel guilty for not stopping his friends from running away but stopped after taking notice of the younger boy's distress, noticing, almost immediately, that he too was suffering, and not only that, but he obviously didn't know how to handle telling the older boy of the events or watching him slowly understand and react accordingly to how he, himself, felt.

* * *

The scene replayed in his mind as he made his way up the stairs towards his family's apartment. He still couldn't believe it... he felt like he could have- no, should have done something rather than watch blankly and let it happen, but what could he have done? How could he have stopped those events from taking place when one moment, he was being dragged by an unknown force towards his friend and the next he's watching her disappear from his sight... there was nothing he could have done.

By the time he arrived at his apartment, the door was already open and his parents stood there with open arms, thanking the heavens that their son was safe. He knew that he should have been happy to see them... I mean, he was, but he should have been **happier**...

* * *

The sun was rising quickly, and the woman knew that she should be sleeping, but she couldn’t shake off this weird feeling of worry. She knew why she was worried, I mean, she’d been that way for two months... two whole months... that’s how long it had been since she had last seen her son. She clutched the wooden framed picture tightly in her hand as she stared at it. Why didn’t she listen to Jaime? He was more worried than her, and he tried to look for her son when she didn’t... not until it was too late, that’s when she began worrying. Only after the police had taken her boyfriend, did her son’s disappearance actually make its presence known. She had been so worried thinking of her own problems that she hadn’t taken the time to think of his.

A slow knock erupted form the other side of the closed door, cutting her train of thought and self-loathing off. Setting the framed picture down, she quickly moved to answer it, opening it slowly and peaking outside. She felt time stop for a moment as she took in the sight before her.

Happiness rushed through her veins as she threw the door open and hugged her son, completely ignorant of the young girl watching from the sidelines. He returned the hug but was quick to break away and bring the girl forward, explaining the situation to his mother as best he could given his fuzzy mind and asking her to let the Japanese girl stay with them.

The woman stared at their intertwined hands and accepted without question. The last thing she wanted was to lose him again, plus now there would be another female in the house. She let them inside, allowing them to rest. Her son and his girlfriend looked exhausted, not just physically, but mentally as well. She could tell there was something wrong and that neither of them was hurt, but it was evident that their emotions were scattered all over the place, but she didn’t know why... maybe, they would tell her when they felt comfortable enough. For now, she would let it be.

* * *

The blond woman stared sadly at her friend/ex-teammate, and her younger sister's best friend's holograms. Her hair fell messily onto her face serving as curtains, hiding her desperation and heart-break from the world's nosy eyes as it patiently waited for her to break down and give it the satisfaction of knowing that it got to her.

"I'm sorry..."

* * *

"Alison, honey, come on! You're going to be late! And I'm not letting you stay home because you're late and, I quote:_ "Can't go to school if I am already late. It honestly makes no sense"._ I fell for it once, but never again."

"I'm coming!" The 11-year-old girl yelled from upstairs before giddily jumping down the steps and landing in from of her impatient mother. "Ready, mom."


End file.
